Rise and Fall
by nimblnymph
Summary: Men, like empires, were made and then destroyed. What matters isn't the fall itself but what you did to help others rise. Written for the KakaSaku Shakespeare Challenge on LiveJournal.
1. Chapter 1

Greetings, one and all! This is my entry piece for the Shakespeare Challenge issued by the wonderfully talented monderndayportia on the KakaSaku LiveJournal page. Each contestant was to pick a Shakespeare play and adapt it anyway they could to the Naruto characters and world.

A quick word before reading: As far as I know, the exact politics of the Hidden Villages and the Countries they're in haven't really been detailed by Kishimoto. If they have in a data book, I'm not aware of it and apologize for any inconsistencies that may follow. Everything about the village politics and all that is purely my own conjecture.

The usual disclaimers apply: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto and Julius Caesar belongs to William Shakespeare.

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* * *

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**_He thinks too much: such men are dangerous._**

* * *

He wanted nothing more than to crawl beneath the worn, shuriken printed quilt on his bed and disappear for a few days with his _Icha Icha_ books. Like the much younger people that had arrived with him, he was exhausted to the point that his bones ached. After a week of traveling, fighting amongst themselves as well as enemies, and sleeplessness, all he wanted were the simple comforts of his own home.

But when he glanced to his right and took in the stooped shoulders and bowed head of the girl walking next to him … any ideas of hiding in his cramped apartment for the next month flew right out of his head.

Sakura hadn't said a word for the last week, not since he'd gone against his own resolve and led her to Sasuke. Or, rather, the last place he'd been. The ninken had guided them to a wide, rocky stretch of land in Iron Country – one that bore the obvious signs of a recent battle. There were patches of charred earth, shattered rocks, decimated trees … and blood. _Lots_ of blood. And it'd been everywhere. But outside of the battleground, Uchiha Sasuke didn't exist. No one – not him, Kiba, the ninken or Akamaru – could pick up the slightest trace of his scent anywhere. Either the scent had been scrambled … or else the body completely destroyed.

It'd done something to him, watching as she struggled to accept that the trail was cold. Seeing the way her eyes had shimmered briefly before hardening with a numb sort of resolve had been … painful. He'd known that one day she would have the eyes of a kunoichi, someone who had seen too much of the ugliness in the world. That didn't mean he had to like it. He'd felt the need to touch her, maybe hug her to him so that she could cry and hopefully wash that jaded look from her eyes.

But he didn't. Instead, he'd stood there, watching as she struggled to keep control of herself. He still wasn't certain if that had been the right course of action or if he should have followed his instincts and gone to her. It was too late to change things now. All he could hope was that she somehow picked up on his unspoken concern for her.

Her continued silence and seeming indifference to anything beyond what was required of her as part of a team had affected his mood as well. Many of the nights where he couldn't sleep were because he'd stayed awake listening to her breathe, just in case muffled sobs were intermingled with the inhales. He kept his eye on her constantly, tracking whenever she left the camp and waiting tensely for when she would return. It wasn't that he thought she would go back and try to locate Sasuke on her own; he was more concerned about trying to be there should she need him.

He was so preoccupied with thoughts of Sakura that he didn't notice the ANBU squad waiting for them inside the gates until Kiba muttered, "Oh, shit."

Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks and his four companions followed his lead. There was only one reason why an ANBU squad would be at the gate to receive them: disciplinary action. He couldn't say that he was terribly surprised. All of them did, after all, leave the village without permission to pursue two S-class criminals on an unapproved mission. Add to that the fact that he'd left the village's ace in the hole with only one guard and he'd be surprised if all they got were mission bans.

Shifting his weight to one foot while being mindful to keep his hands visible and apart at all times, he remarked dryly, "How nice, someone sent a welcoming committee."

The tension in his group was so heavy it felt nearly tangible. Sakura took a half step closer toward him, but whether she was seeking protection or offering it he didn't know. She never completed to movement though as one of the masked faces pointedly turned her way. "Kakashi-sensei…" she whispered, and there was no mistaking the uncertain quaver to her voice.

He smiled and forced an easy chuckle that normally would have accompanied an affectionate hair ruffling. "Don't worry, Sakura. I don't think they're interested in you … or are you, Yugao? Your hair looks nice, by the way."

The woman tensed at the use of her name, and he was certain that she was glaring at him from behind her white and red cat face. She tossed her head, causing her dark hair to flutter, but the effect wasn't quite the same now that it was barely chin length. "You know it's against protocol to reveal an ANBU member's real name while they're on official business," she hissed, though it lacked the true fierceness he knew she was capable of.

Kakashi nodded and very slowly tucked his hands into his pockets. "No need to remind me, Yugao. I haven't forgotten ANBU procedures."

Not that they were on _official-_official business. If Yugao and her squad had been there to haul them in for insubordination, his team wouldn't have made it two feet beyond the gate. Not to mention there was the fact that she'd been part of his team, once upon a time. The higher ups would never send a squad whose captain had conflicting ties with the person being arrested.

He also had a sneaky suspicion he knew what was going on. Suna's messengers certainly worked quickly.

As reluctant as he was to go through with this, he really didn't have much choice in the matter. And knowing how these things went, chances were good he'd be stuck there for at least a few hours. So much for passing out on the couch tonight.

Kakashi sighed under his breath and shrugged. "Okay, take me in."

Sakura spun toward him so swiftly it was a miracle she didn't suffer any whiplash. "What?!" she exclaimed bewilderedly as the ANBU positioned themselves around him. "You're going to go with them, just like that? Kakashi-sensei!"

"It's okay, Sakura-chan. Besides, if I don't go, Yugao here will hate me forever."

"There are days where it's a definite possibility, sempai," the dark haired woman muttered before motioning for their group to get moving. Kakashi followed her, smiling pleasantly at the two ANBU who fell into step alongside him.

Footsteps sounded from behind him, shortly before a petite frame squeezed between him and the ANBU on his right. A slim, callused hand grabbed hold of his shirt sleeve and jerked him to a stop. "Kakashi-sensei, no!"

He blinked in surprise at her audacity before shooting a pointed look at the man behind her who had his katana partially drawn. The man cleared his throat and returned the blade immediately. Satisfied that he wasn't going to have to beat someone for almost attacking his student, Kakashi tilted his head cheerfully and said, "I'm flattered you want to spend more time with me, Sakura, but this probably isn't the sort of hangout spot you'd enjoy."

"I'm not stupid, Kakashi-sensei. I know something's going on and I _won__'__t _let you go alone!"

Kakashi was about to argue with her … but he made the mistake of looking at her. She had gotten better at controlling her emotions over the last three years. There were times however where she still wore her heart on her sleeve; this was one of those times. The naked fear on her face was enough to nearly knock the breath from him. She was scared – for _him._ It made his heart ache and he had that strange urge to reach out to her again, to brush the tendrils of pink away from her cheek.

His hands fisted tightly in his pockets to keep from doing just that. Instead, he smiled and soothed, "Sakura, trust me. Everything is going to be okay, I promise."

Apparently, he needed to work on the whole reassuring thing because rather than stand down, she fit him with a hard, unyielding glare. "Fine. Then I'm coming, too. I'm not going to let you face whatever it is alone."

"Yeah, and we're comin', too," Kiba added, taking a bold step forward. Akamaru growled in agreement.

"We are _all_ accompanying Kakashi-sensei," Lee insisted as both he and Sai moved closer.

"No."

"Kakashi-san, I must agree with Hag," Sai argued. "If you are to be taken to task over our actions, then we should all be treated in the same manner."

"That's a very noble sentiment, Sai, but none of you want what's coming to me." He instantly regretted making such a cryptic joke the minute panic returned to Sakura's eyes.

He was about to try and lay her fears to rest, but Yugao slid closer to him and murmured in his ear, "We need to go _now_, Kakashi-sempai. This is a time sensitive matter and we've already dawdled for too long."

Nodding once, Kakashi leveled a stern look at his team and ordered, "None of you are coming with me: no questioning, no arguing."

For a moment, Kiba and Lee looked ready to protest being ordered about, but then the former shook his head and grumbled, "C'mon, Lee. We have _mission reports_ to fill out." Lee hummed a disgruntled agreement and followed without another word.

Sai still hesitated, his eyes darting from Sakura to Kakashi and back again. "Hag, we have to go."

"_We_ don't have to do any such thing!" she snapped, not once breaking eye contact with the object of her ire – that being her team leader. "You can go if you want to, but I'm not leaving."

"Sakura-chan… I don't believe Kakashi-san is in real trouble."

Not even the use of her name was enough to jar her stubborn nature. "If he's not in trouble, then why won't he let us come with him?"

Even though the question was phrased to Sai, Kakashi knew it was being directed more at him.

He understood why she was afraid for him. It was hard losing teammates, whether it was death or abandonment that took them. The only one she had left right now was him, and if there was one thing he knew about Haruno Sakura it was that she had a fierce tenacious streak. She wasn't going to let him go without a fight.

Kakashi could see her inner struggle clearly in the pinching of her features. She wanted to trust him that everything would be alright, but the need to stand by and protect her teammate was just as strong. He'd taught her that. And here he was telling her to go against his example.

He was reaching for her before he realized what he was doing. Her eyes widened a little when his hand settled on her head. His fingers slipped back through the soft strands, but he didn't ruffle them like he normally would have. Kakashi felt his heart speed up drastically and saw her swallow hard as a shuddering breath slipped between her parted lips.

"I'll stop by and check in with you when we're done, okay?" he offered, trying not to stare at her mouth too much.

It took a moment, but Sakura finally closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay," she whispered reluctantly. "Don't forget."

"I won't."

"And if I don't answer, you have permission to just come in."

"Only if you promise not to punch my head off."

Sakura rolled her eyes, but there was a twitch to her lips that hinted at a smile. "That happened once."

"Yes, but once was more than enough for me, thank you." Kakashi grinned and let his hand fall away from her. There was a flash of emotion across her face, but it was too quick for him to pinpoint. If he had to take a guess, he'd almost say she was disappointed … but that didn't make any sense.

They stood there for a moment longer, her staring fixedly at his chest and him focusing on his feet. Yugao cleared her throat pointedly and immediately they both fidgeted awkwardly, as if the air were suddenly rather uncomfortable. Kakashi took a deep breath and turned his back on Sakura at the same time she did to him.

Kakashi felt Yugao watching him as they headed quickly toward the rebuilt jounin headquarters, but he pretended he didn't notice. His cheeks were a bit warm beneath his mask and he was more grateful than ever for the strip of black. It would be a damaging blow to his reputation if it was spread through the ANBU ranks that Copy Ninja Kakashi was reduced to blushing by his sixteen year old teammate.

Yugao had the courtesy to wait until Sakura was out of sight before murmuring, "She's a bit young for you, don't you think?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about it," he mumbled back as he oh-so-casually tried to fix his hair over his exposed ear. The heat was beginning to creep upward.

"Sure, sempai. Whatever you say," the dark haired woman chuckled.

Kakashi barely managed to suppress a groan. Today was definitely in the running for Most Frustrating Day Ever.

* * *

The door to the Hokage office slammed open and the person responsible immediately froze when two ROOT guards appeared by his side, kunai pressing threateningly against his neck.

The boy, a genin judging by his lack of forethought in bursting into the Hokage's office, flicked wide brown eyes from one painted mask to the other before fixing on the man who had yet to look up from the papers on his desk. "D-Danzou-sama … there's news."

Danzou's hand didn't so much as waver as he continued signing the forms Torune kept placing before him. "You're a rather impertinent boy, aren't you? What's your name?"

"My name, sir?"

This caused him to pause and look up with a hard frown. His dislike for having to repeat himself was aggravated by the fact that he was the _Hokage_ – a fact the young brat had ignored upon addressing him. "Yes. Your name."

"Futokuyouryou," the boy replied.

Danzou's hand stopped mid character and his gaze lifted once again to pin a stern glare on the insolent boy. "I know past administrations would have been amused by your cheek, but this one fails to see the humor in a disobedient attitude. I'll say it again: your name."

The boy's brow pinched in confusion. "But I already gave you my name."

He leaned back in his chair, the fingers of his unbound arm tapping irritably against the desk. "So, what you're saying is that your name is _futokuyouryou_ – irrelevant?"

Beaming as proudly as if he'd just been promoted to jounin, the boy nodded and said, "Yes, Danzou-sama."

"Torune, Fu, escort him outside and teach him how to answer the Hokage appropriately."

"Wait!" the boy cried as the two assistants rounded the desk with purposeful steps. "But … my name _is_ Futokuyouryou!"

"Come on," Fu growled as he grabbed the back of the boy's shirt roughly. "Time to teach you some manners, brat!"

"H-Hey! Wait a second, I've gotta message for Danzou-sama!"

"That's the _Hokage_ you're addressing," Torune reprimanded sharply. "You _will_ show proper respect for the man who faced Uchiha Madara and survived!"

"But the message! I've gotta…!" The boy grunted as he was shoved none too gently through the door.

The trio nearly collided with another ROOT nin as he came sprinting into the office. "Danzou-sama, we have a problem!" the man exclaimed breathlessly.

Danzou let out an irritated sigh and dropped his pen on the desk. It appeared today he wouldn't be getting _any_ paperwork done. It also seemed to be the day for people to forget his proper title. "What is it, Mifune?"

"Hatake Kakashi has returned."

"That's hardly a problem. Have him arrested for treason, seeing as he disobeyed a direct order from the Hokage."

Mifune shook his head and spread his arms in a helpless gesture. "We can't, Danzou-sama."

He frowned hard at that and leaned back in his chair with a stern glare. "And why is that?"

"Because … the jounin convened without our knowledge. They intend to vote him in as the new Hokage and were waiting for his return to make it official. To arrest him now would cause a riot."

To those unfamiliar with the subtleties of Danzou's expressions, it would have appeared that the news had very little effect on him at all. But there was a slight tightening near the corner of his eye and through his jaw, a quick flash of pain through his dark eye that said these words hit him harder than he would ever admit. He took a deep breath and released it slowly, just barely resisting the urge to press a hand at the deep, pitted scar marring a good portion of his chest beneath his robes. It throbbed slightly with remembered pain and a chill swept down his spine as his mind flashed back to his near miss with death.

Shinobi were supposed to be prepared for death – to accept it, meet it unflinchingly. It was their duty, not only to the village but to those who shared in their profession. He knew this very well, better than some, and yet it was a concept he had always had trouble embracing. His fear of dying had clashed with his duty as a shinobi several times in the past.

The most recent of those times being when he faced two Uchihas with complete mastery of their sharingan. He'd barely escaped with his life that day; in fact, if it hadn't been for Torune and Fu activating an emergency transport jutsu on the fly, he doubted any of them would have. They all bore scars from the battle, both mentally as well as physically. He had quite literally poured every last ounce of himself into that battle … and he had failed.

And now the village that he had nearly died to protect was favoring another to be their Hokage. He'd hoped to have established himself firmly as Hokage before anyone thought to challenge the Daimyo's decision. The title was once again slipping from between his fingers and he was powerless to stop it.

Belatedly, Danzou realized that his men were waiting for some sort of response from him. He cleared his throat, but his voice still carried the edge of a rasp to it as he said, "He accepted their nomination, no doubt."

To his surprise the guard shook his head quickly. "No, he didn't. Not yet," he replied.

His eyebrows rose as he slowly set the pen down. "So, the jounin haven't voted yet," he murmured, speaking more to himself than to those in the room.

Mifune responded anyway. "Yes, Danzou-sama. ANBU just intercepted him a few minutes ago."

This meant there was still time to act. He'd worked too long and hard to gain his position to let a man half his age simply walk in and take it from him.

Still though, it would be unwise to make a move against Kakashi at this point in time. He was the people's darling, a highly praised and respected member of the village. To arrest him, however deserved it was, would indeed cause a riot like Mifune said – and that was something he couldn't afford right now. He wasn't so blinded by his position that he was unaware how the villagers viewed him. His control was tenuous at best, but it would shatter completely if he took their hero from them.

Danzou's eye closed and his hand smoothed flat across the desk. "Is anyone else with him?"

Mifune knew, without being specifically asked, who his master was inquiring about. "Yes, Danzou-sama. Sai is with them."

"Them?"

"Kakashi returned with three others, identified as Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba, and Haruno Sakura."

He nodded at the last name. "Tsunade's apprentice, a rather talented medic nin from what I hear. She was also part of the original Team Seven … but she didn't leave with Kakashi. What about the Nine-Tail and ANBU captain?"

There was a slight pause before Mifune reluctantly admitted, "Their whereabouts are unknown, sir. They didn't return with Kakashi, so it can only be assumed that they remained in Iron Country. We've already dispatched our best trackers to locate them."

Danzou opened his eye and nodded again as he rose from his seat. "Set half the trackers to locating Uchiha Sasuke and the other half to Uzumaki Naruto. Chances are, the latter is in pursuit of the former, so it will be best to cover all sides. Do not engage the Uchiha. Simply observe, mark the location and stay out of range." He couldn't afford to lose those loyal to him, not when his control over Konoha was so tenuous.

"And the Nine-Tail, sir?"

As much as he wanted to say 'haul him in', Naruto had risen in status as well, thanks to his bravery during the initial invasion. And with Kakashi back and holding sway over the people's hearts, one whisper from him and the village would rise up in defense of the Nine-Tail vessel.

"If the opportunity arrives to contain him and bring him back quietly, do so," he ordered as he walked toward the door, his guard falling in around him neatly. "Otherwise, do not engage unless he comes face to face with the Uchiha. Should they meet, extract the Nine-Tail as soon as possible. Send regular reports and await further orders."

"What of the ANBU captain, Danzou-sama? He won't take kindly to us stealing back the kyuubi," Mifune questioned.

Danzou gave the man a long, hard look. "What _of_ him, Mifune?"

Despite having a white and red mask covering his features, Mifune's smirk was evident in his voice as he bowed and said, "Understood, Danzou-sama."

Satisfied that all would be taken care of, Danzou left the office with his ROOT detail in tow. One of Konoha's finest had just returned home. It would be unfitting if the duly appointed Hokage wasn't there to welcome him.

* * *

Kakashi eyed the new jounin headquarters with a mildly impressed look. "This wasn't here when I left," he commented idly as one of the ANBU held the door open for him.

"Danzou ordered that all administrative buildings be rebuilt as soon as possible," Yugao replied, nodding in thanks to her teammate as she stepped inside. "The Hokage's offices and residence, the jounin and ANBU headquarters… It was all built within a week."

He nodded thoughtfully as his eye swept over the rubble surrounding the well-made building. Broken glass and rocks, twisted metal piping, chunks of walls and the foundations of what he knew had been homes before the destruction were all over the place. It made sense to establish base commands, but still… "What about homes for the villagers?"

Yugao was quiet for a long time before saying in a tight voice, "A work in progress. Konoha doesn't have the funds to cover all that was lost. Notices were sent out just yesterday that it was the individual responsibility of each villager to find a means of getting by."

"But what about the shelters Yamato built before we left?" There had been at least two dozen new structures that his kohai had created, some of which were more than adequate for housing.

"Assigned to those with the most need."

The ANBU to his right snorted and muttered, "Yeah, if by 'need' you mean part of ROOT."

Kakashi arched a brow at that but didn't comment further. There was no proof to substantiate the ANBU's claim of preferential treatment, so he couldn't treat it as fact. He could, however, be morally outraged that the villagers were told to fend for themselves. That was just asking for trouble in the near future – trouble Konoha really couldn't afford. It was bad enough they were on the brink of war; they didn't need internal struggles as well.

They walked down hallways that still smelled strongly of pine and sealant until they arrived at a set of wide double doors. Yugao paused with one hand on each panel and glanced at him over her shoulder. "Are you ready, sempai?"

Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly to steady his nerves, Kakashi said, "No, not really."

"Too bad." She pushed the doors open and led the way into what had to be the biggest and most crowded meeting room he'd seen in his entire life.

Risers extended high over his head and where crammed full with ninja. They couldn't possibly be all jounin, not unless Danzou had recalled everyone from missions … which, in all likelihood, he had. That theory supported what Yugao had said about the funds being extremely limited. If no one was accepting missions, the village wasn't making money. The people sitting nearest to the door were watching him and his escorts curiously, some leaning over to point out their progress to their neighbors.

Up ahead, the Jounin Council was seated at a large, round table. Yamanaka Inoichi, the head of the Council, was standing to address the room, but is words were getting buried under the murmur rippling through the assembly. He heard snatches of his name being passed around, saw people rising in an attempt to catch a glimpse of him as he and the ANBU stepped out into the open meeting area.

As soon as he was in full view, the crowd erupted with noise. Kakashi tried to maintain an aloof front, but he couldn't deny the thread of apprehension twisting through his gut. It was hard to tell whether the other jounin were excited or outraged at his sudden appearance.

A loud thud sounded from the table as Morino Ibiki slammed his fist down on the wood. "Settle down, all of you!" he growled, glaring out at the assembly.

Under the combined weight of his tone and glare, everyone returned to their seats, though there were a few rude gestures from those who weren't above a genin's maturity level. Kakashi used the few seconds before the meeting resumed to see who all was present at the Council. Nara Shikaku was sitting between Inoichi and Akimichi Chouza. Shiranui Genma was, as usual, sitting backward in his chair just to piss off his neighbor, Hyuuga Hiashi. Yamashiro Aoba and Namiashi Raido were present as well. Maito Gai smirked at him, knowing what was to come, and Yuhi Kurenai smiled as she rubbed a hand idly across her rounded belly. Ebisu was, as usual, taking notes of the meeting.

And in the chair that was normally occupied by himself was Shizune. It made sense to include her in this discussion, not least because she was an incredibly talented and proficient kunoichi. But he was a little surprised that she'd accepted the position, considering the circumstances.

The only person who was missing was the current Hokage. Something told him that Danzou hadn't been invited to the party, which struck him as being rather duplicitous. Then again … they were all ninja. Having two faces was part of the job. He just didn't think it was a good idea to employ it against a man as dangerous as Danzou.

"As you all know, the Daimyo of Fire Country approved a successor to the office of Hokage," Inoichi continued when the noise subsided enough for him to do so. "However, the nomination was never ratified by the jounin of the village. At the time Shimura Danzou was appointed to office, another had been considered as well. Someone we – myself, Shikaku-san and Chouza-san – feel would benefit the village greatly."

"But what about Danzou?" Raidou questioned. "He was the Daimyo's choice." A small murmur of agreement met his comment.

"Traditionally, the Daimyo is included in the discussion of who will lead the village as a courtesy," Nara Shikaku spoke up solemnly, "but final say has _always_ been determined by the jounin."

"Then who does the Council suggest as our Hokage?" a woman demanded from the audience. She cowered backward when Ibiki shot her a warning glare. When her neighbor tapped her arm and pointed toward Kakashi, her eyes widened in shock before the two started whispering to each other.

Now he knew what a guinea pig felt like. It wasn't pleasant.

"Hatake Kakashi," Inoichi began in a somber tone that didn't fit the smirk tugging at his lips. "The Jounin Council has submitted your name for the office of Hokage. What do you have to say about that?"

Kakashi tucked his hands in his pockets and said, "Nothing."

Ebisu paused in his scribbling to look up at him. "Nothing?"

He nodded. "Respectfully so, yes."

A couple of the Council members exchanged glances and whispered to each other. Some, like Ibiki, were damn near ready to bust a gut from holding back the laughter. Others, like Hiashi, were less than amused by his response. Well, what did they _want_ him to say? That this was a tremendous honor? That he would be happy to have the entire village carried on his shoulders?

Clearing his throat, Inoichi said loud enough to be heard over the thrum of whispered voices, "Very well, then let's just get to it. Before we vote, are there any objections to the nominee?"

Silence met him in response. Not surprising. No one ever questioned the Council's decision.

"I object."

… But there was a first time for everything. Gasps of surprise and startled whispers circulated the crowd as four people made their way to the platform. Danzou and Kakashi locked gazes briefly before the older man glanced at the Jounin Council with a rather unfriendly look. There was a brief standoff between the ROOT and ANBU guards as they met, but it didn't move beyond glaring and some light posturing. It was the same sort of behavior Kakashi had witnessed in rival dog packs; nothing but a few snarls and maybe some tree pissing.

Hyuuga Hiashi was the first to address Danzou's presence by stating coolly, "This was a closed meeting, for the village jounin and clan leaders only."

"And as the duly elected Hokage, jounin business is _my_ business," Danzou replied with the same amount of ice in his voice.

"He's right, Hiashi-san," Kakashi agreed, causing his political rival to shoot him a suspicious look. "Even if the Daimyo's decision is ignored, Danzou-sama is still a member of _Konoha's_ Council."

The Hyuuga leader didn't look too please at being chastised in front of the village's most prominent ninja, but he didn't make any further comments.

Shikaku leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together. "Please accept our humblest apologies, Danzou-sama, for not having the forethought to include you sooner," he said smoothly. "No offense was intended by the exclusion. Continue speaking, by all means."

Though delivered with the utmost civility, Kakashi could still hear the lie beneath the Nara clan leader's words. Until that moment, he hadn't been aware that Shikaku harbored any ill will toward the older shinobi.

Giving a slight bow of appreciation for the courtesy, Danzou moved to a more central location on the platform. He was making certain that all eyes remained on him – a simple tactic, but effective. "First, I want to be clear that I am casting no aspersions on Kakashi," he began, his age roughened voice carrying with amazing clarity in the large room. "He is without a doubt one of the finest ninja our village has ever produced."

"Thank you, Danzou-sama, you're far too kind," Kakashi interrupted cheerfully, causing a few people in the front to laugh quietly. If he wanted to play a game of subtlety, fine. He wasn't the only one who knew how to effect the situation. By introducing levity, he was effectively diffusing the somber atmosphere that had fallen on the assembly at Danzou's arrival. Since the older man used the fear in others as a means of controlling them, it made his job a lot more difficult if the people were in a good humor.

Danzou, however, wasn't just a fear monger; he was a shinobi and a politician as well. As such, he was used to thinking quickly and switching tactics when necessary. His lips quirked into a slight smile as he chuckled under his breath. "There's nothing kind in speaking the truth. And since we're discussing the truth … perhaps you will be so kind as to explain why you abandoned the village you love to pursue a criminal? A criminal, I'd like to add, who was one of your former students."

The low blow wasn't unexpected, but it still stung upon receiving. He hadn't thought the gloves would be coming off so soon. Kakashi gave the other man a long, unreadable look before asking softly, "Did the Council second the decision to name Uchiha Sasuke a criminal?"

"Excuse me?"

"In order for a ninja to be declared a criminal of Konoha, it must be approved by both the Hokage and the Council of Elders," he continued, speaking blandly so as not to seem accusatory. "This is to prevent any personal vendettas from influencing village policy – but you know that already, I'm sure."

Danzou didn't so much as flinch at the implication behind those words, but he also didn't respond – which actually said quite a bit. If he said yes and it came out that the Council hadn't, then he would be outted as a liar. And if he said no, then he was admitting that he gave orders to kill a legitimate member of the village on sight. Neither option would serve his purposes, so he opted for silence so as to claim plausible deniability later on.

Kakashi allowed the silence to stretch out a few seconds longer before releasing a sigh of feigned disappointment. "Sorry for interrupting you, Danzou-sama. What were you saying again?"

"I was questioning your qualifications to be Hokage," the older man answered curtly, turning to look at him head on. "There is no doubt that you are an exceptionally talented and intelligent shinobi, however your leadership skills leave much to be desired."

Kakashi cocked his head curiously and asked, "How so?"

"Your first mission as a team leader. One teammate abducted, one killed, and the mission almost failed. Two years after that, you and a team were sent to investigate a reported border breech. Two teammates were permanently injured, the other was out of commission for one year. The mission? Again, barely successful. Your first genin team: one disappeared with a rogue ninja, another sought teaching outside of your guidance, and the third abandoned the village to consort with Orochimaru. Need I say more?"

"No, no, that's good enough," he replied breezily, rocking back on his heels as casually as if they were discussing the weather. "I have to say, Danzou-sama, I'm rather flattered you're so familiar with my record."

There was a quiet chuckle from the audience and a couple of the Council members had to quickly bite back on their smiles. Even Danzou smiled, though it lacked any real humor. "I make it a point to know who is who in Konoha."

"Which is certainly expected of a Hokage, of course. Tell me though … how many missions total have I been assigned?"

Danzou's eye narrowed suspiciously. He'd obviously just figured out what he'd stepped into and didn't like it one bit. Good. "One thousand, one hundred and forty-one."

"Really, that many?" He didn't bother trying to make the surprise sound genuine. "Now, of those one thousand, one hundred and forty-one missions, how many were unsuccessful?"

There was a slight pause before the Hokage-elect bit out, "None."

Kakashi hummed under his breath and nodded. "Not bad for someone with questionable leadership skills, wouldn't you say?"

Once again, Danzou refused to respond.

"We're not here to debate on the qualifications of one man over the other," Shikaku spoke into the silence. "We're here to decide what is best for the village. Both of you have attributes that are beneficial to the position, and to Konoha."

"Agreed, but right now there are more important things we need to take care of."

"What could possibly be more important than voting for a new Hokage?" Hiashi demanded with a hard frown.

Kakashi spared a glance for the Hyuuga leader before turning to address the assembly as a whole. He could hear their incredulous whispers as clear as day and knew they'd misconstrued his words. "First, we still have villagers living in tents," he began, speaking louder so that everyone could hear him. "There's also the fact that, while some buildings have been remade, Konoha is still nothing more than rubble and half-standing remains. We need to clean the village out before we can rebuild it. Then there's also the matter of supplies: how to get them, how to pay for them… And of course, there's Fire Country's defense, not to mention our ravaged inter-village relations."

"All of that _is _of pressing importance, Kakashi-san," Inoichi conceded. "But we need an officially named Hokage to organize all that."

"You're correct, Inoichi, which is why I'm going to bow out."

If the pandemonium from before had been loud, the one now was near deafening. Once again, seats were being abandoned as the jounin leapt to their feet in protest. It was obvious to everyone who they wanted to lead them. Kakashi almost felt sorry for Danzou – almost. The guy _had _done quite a bit of damage to Konoha's public relations, after all. Not to mention the fact that he'd blacklisted Sasuke without Council approval and was trying to keep Naruto caged to the village for whatever reason. And no, he didn't buy for one minute that Danzou's sole motive was to protect the Nine-Tail jinchuuriki.

"Goddamn it, all of you shut up!" Ibiki bellowed, slamming his fist down on the table again. "This isn't a free-for-all, and you're not a bunch of hyperactive genin. Sit down and keep quiet!"

There was still some grumbling, most of it rude stuff directed at Ibiki, but the jounin still complied with his order. When everything was settled once again, the Interrogation Expert huffed irritably and waved a curt hand. "Go on, Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded his thanks and continued calmly, "The Daimyo has made his preference clear, and we need his support if we're to survive. The Jounin Council has already acknowledged that Danzou-sama is qualified for the position. Therefore, I think that the best course of action would be for me to thank the Council for the honor of being nominated and to decline."

Shizune waited for him to finish before leaning forward so as to address the entire Council. "Kakashi-san is right in that we need to be a village united in order to pull ourselves up again. However, I feel that no matter who we select, whether it's the Daimyo's choice or ours, tensions will be created as a result."

"But we _need_ a Hokage," Inoichi insisted.

"Yes, we do," Shizune agreed in a calm, reasonable tone. "But where is it written that we can only have _one _Hokage at a time?"

Kakashi wasn't the only one to gape at her in surprise. Everyone was looking at her as if she'd just suggested they reverse heaven and earth for the fun of it. Kurenai in particular was frowning hard as she glanced from him to Danzou and back again thoughtfully.

As if sensing the reluctance in her peers, Shizune shrugged indifferently and added, "It's just an idea. Besides, the position of Hokage is extraordinarily detailed without having to worry about rebuilding an entire village. It might be best to split it between two people, just to make certain everything gets done."

"This was tried once before," Danzou commented, "with Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara."

"There's a difference between then and now," Shikaku pointed out. "And that is that Uchiha Madara was more concerned with his clan than he was with Konoha. Since both you and Kakashi-san share a similar interest, I'm going to agree with Shizune-san's suggestion."

"Seconded."

"Agreed."

One by one, the Jounin Council sounded off in agreement to the proposal of two Hokages. Kurenai was the last to cast her vote, and she did so with open hesitancy. Kakashi wondered for a moment whether it was due to the people being selected or the idea of two village leaders, but he didn't have time to ponder it long. Before he could fully process his own thoughts on the matter, Inoichi was calling for the rest of the assembly to vote and all he could do was watch as every hand shot up in favor of the compromise.

It was overwhelming, really. Kakashi gazed out at all the jounin in the assembly and was struck speechless by the show of support. Somehow over the years (and despite his introverted nature) he'd managed to acquire quite a few people he cared about and who, apparently, cared about him. How that happened, he had no idea but it gave him a sense of propriety over the village. This was _his_ home and he would do everything in his power to protect it.

But he didn't really want to do it with the mantle of Hokage thrown over his shoulders. As far as he was concerned, Tsunade was still Konoha's leader. It seemed a bit … presumptuous to assume her role while she was still alive. Then again, she wasn't in any condition _to_ fulfill her obligations to the village, and no one knew if she ever would be again. Konoha needed someone _now_ … and whether he liked it or not, he was part of that solution.

"Then it's settled," Inoichi announced as he and the other Council members rose from the table. "Until Konoha has been restored to its fullest potential, we will have two Hokages: Shimura Danzou and Hatake Kakashi. We'll allow you two to decide who handles what aspects of the job."

Immediately, the assembly broke out in riotous cheers, and unlike the last few times they'd gotten unruly, Ibiki didn't bother trying to silence them. Instead, he was one of the first to get up and come over to congratulate the newly elected co-Hokages.

From there, everything was a blur of handshakes, back thumps, beaming smiles and congratulations. Kakashi was completely inundated by all the people, and not just a little uncomfortable as well. Sure, he knew quite a few of them personally and had worked with several more in the past … but he'd never been a very social guy to begin with and was feeling quite a bit claustrophobic.

There was only one break in the constant press of people, and that was when Gai helped Kurenai get through to shake his hand. "Congratulations, Kakashi-sama," she murmured gravely. She hesitated for a moment before leaning closer so that only he was able to hear her next words: "I have a really bad feeling about this."

Kakashi drew away from her, momentarily taken aback by what she'd said. Then, figuring she was joking with him, he smiled and said, "You and me both. I can barely keep a plant alive, and now they're expecting me to take care of an entire village?"

Kurenai's frown deepened and there was a solemnity to her eyes that made his blood run a bit cooler than normal. "That's not what I meant. Just … watch your back, okay?"

For a moment, they stood facing each other in complete silence, but after a bit he murmured, "Okay."

Relief flooded over her features at his response. Her eyes closed and there was a hint of a smile on her lips as she whispered back, "Thank you." Gai offered a quick congratulations as well before turning to follow her back through the crowd.

Even after they had disappeared in the swarm of jounin, Kakashi stared after them. Kurenai wasn't a woman to mince words, and she certainly wasn't one to stir up trouble without due cause. There was no doubt her concern was sincere, but at the same time it didn't seem to be founded on any facts. He had only just returned to Konoha, and he knew by Danzou's presence at the meeting that the other man hadn't seen the communications from Suna before hand. True, that didn't mean he couldn't plan something later on … but he stood the risk of that backfiring on him severely.

Still though, Kurenai _was_ a high caliber kunoichi with amazing instincts. If she felt there was something off about this, his first reaction was to believe her. It certainly wouldn't hurt to exercise a bit of caution going into the future. This meeting, no matter its intended purpose, had made one thing very clear: the people of Konoha were not satisfied with their current leader. If Danzou expected to remain in power, he had no choice but to play nice with Kakashi. It was hard to tell if this political blackmail was a good thing or a bad thing.

After all, the cornered dog was always the most dangerous.

* * *

Sakura didn't know how long she'd been pacing the small ground space of her tent, but it felt like forever. When they'd arrived at the village, it had been late in the afternoon. It had to have been at least an hour since the sun had set, leaving her tent completely dark. Due to the fragile state of the village, an order had apparently been issued that no lights were permitted after sunset. She was cold, her meal had been meager at best, and she'd tripped so many damn times on the root bisecting her living area that she was seriously thinking about ripping the damn thing up.

But more than being miserable due to her current living conditions, more even than being utterly exhausted … she was worried.

Where was Kakashi? He should have been back by now, shouldn't he? Damn it, she knew she should have gone with him! That stupid smile of his … this was the second time she'd let it fool her. It was his way of keeping her safe, she knew, but she still resented him for it. She didn't _need_ or _want_ to be protected; she wanted to help her teammates and stand by them no matter what.

Apparently, he still didn't think she was ready. Sakura felt tears stinging her eyes and swiped a hand across them irritably. She was so tired of crying over these stupid … _boys!_ For once, she wanted them not to lie because they had this misguided need to spare her feelings. She was sixteen years old, half way to seventeen, and a talented kunoichi – not a medic nin. A _kunoichi._ She'd saved lives and taken them in the name of her job, just like her teammates. She knew just as well as the next kunoichi that reality wasn't always shiny and pretty. So why did people always feel the need to protect her? Why did they lie to her, cut her out of things? And why, why, _why_ did she always fall for it with Kakashi?

Sakura sniffled hard and didn't bother trying to keep the tears in check any longer. She was so sick of being second guessed, of working so hard that she nearly collapsed only to find out she still wasn't good enough to warrant the respect of truthfulness. At the very least, she deserved it as a friend and someone who was there from the beginning. Even if he didn't want her as backup, Kakashi didn't need to lie and tell her everything was going to be okay when it obviously wasn't. She'd thought back in Iron Country, when they'd lost Sasuke's trail yet again, that he'd … that maybe he'd —

"Yo."

She spun around with a startled gasp at the familiar greeting and in the split second it took for her to register the pale contrast of his hair in the dark, she was flinging herself on him. Kakashi grunted as her body collided hard with his, and after a moment's hesitation his arms circled her in return. She could feel his discomfort with the gesture in the stiffness of his body, but he didn't try to push her away like she half expected him to. Instead, he patted the space between her shoulder blades awkwardly and said, "Sakura, would you mind easing up a little? It's a little difficult to breathe."

Her arms tightened around his neck even further. "Sorry," she mumbled into his chest. She was probably smearing his flak vest in snot and tears. She didn't care; it served him right after all the worrying he'd put her through.

Sakura's eyes closed when she felt his chest his beneath her cheek. He sighed and the tension drained from his body as he submitted to her hug. "I _di_d tell you everything would be okay," he muttered into her hair.

"Yeah, but you smiled at me." _Just like the last time you said things would be fine._

She didn't say it out loud, but then she rarely ever had to with him. Kakashi always seemed to know what she was thinking, and this time was no different. His arms tightened marginally around her and his hand began rubbing in slow, soothing movements across her back. It wasn't a very noticeable reaction when compared to what others might have done or said, but for a man who typically wasn't demonstrative of his emotions it was a lot. She was grateful and more than a little touched that he was willing to share that with her.

Sakura wasn't sure how long they stood there simply holding each other, but neither of them seemed inclined to let go. As far as she was concerned, he could do so all night if he wanted to. With everything that had happened – the village being destroyed, her beloved mentor left fighting for her life, one teammate consumed by revenge, and the other focused on saving him – she _needed_ something familiar to cling to. Kakashi was her constant through it all, always there when she least expected but most needed him. Yes, he could be a heartless jerk and she certainly didn't approve of his porn addiction … but he was someone she could depend on.

Without thinking beyond how nice he felt against her, she turned her cheek into his shoulder so that her nose bumped the stiff, padded collar of his vest. Sakura took a deep breath in and savored the familiarity of his scent.

There was nothing particularly special to how Kakashi smelled. He'd never worn cologne as far as she knew and her nose wasn't sensitive enough to detect that 'unique' scent her romance novels always mentioned. He smelled like a mixture of generic soap and the forest surrounding Konoha; it made her think of home, and she supposed in a way that _was_ rather unique to him.

She broke from her thoughts when Kakashi cleared his throat embarrassedly. Blushing hotly as she realized just what she had done (and how he might possibly perceive it) Sakura released him and took a couple steps back. "S-So," she stammered once a more appropriate distance was between them. "How bad was it?"

Kakashi released a slow breath and replied, "I think you'd better sit down."

Oh, no … it was worse than she'd thought. Sakura swallowed hard and nodded, belatedly realizing that he probably couldn't see her. Her stomach was a fluttering mess as she turned her back to him and crouched down by her cot, one hand groping blindly through the grass until it came into contact with the small camping lantern that had been provided for her. She opened the little door with one hand while fumbling through her hip pouch for a pack of matches with the other. The crack of the match head being struck seemed loud in comparison to the soft creaking of insects outside and she hoped that none of the guards roaming around outside heard it.

Once the lantern wick was lit, Sakura quickly turned it down so that the barest of glows emitted from the glass casing. It was just enough so that she could see Kakashi's face amidst the shadows. Maybe it was the poor lighting, but he looked as exhausted as she felt. There was a heavy, dark coloring underneath his exposed eye and it seemed to her like the lid was drooping more than usual. Even the perpetual slouch to his shoulders was more pronounced and she was willing to bet good money that he hadn't eaten all day.

Sakura hesitated a moment before motioning toward her cot awkwardly. "You should sit down, too."

The way he stared at the cot was the same way she imagined a man caught in Suna's desert for a week would appraise a well. However, instead of taking her up on the offer, Kakashi shook his head and said, "No, better not. There's a good chance I won't get up again if I do."

Once again, there was a disconnect with her brain and her actions as she blurted out, "You can stay, if you want. I don't mind the company."

Kakashi shot her a disbelieving look before quickly ducking his head. She couldn't be sure, but she'd almost swear there was color peeking out above the edge of his mask. Sakura stared at the flattened grass she was crouched over, her lower lip caught between her teeth as she fought to control her own blush. What was wrong with her tonight? This was the second time she behaved questioningly toward him. Thankfully, it was Kakashi and not some other guy who would take her up on the offer. Any second now and he would thank her and politely refuse the offer….

Her head shot up in shock when the cot creaked under his weight. Sakura's eyes widened as he shifted around until he found a comfortable sitting position on the narrow frame. Finally, he let out a contented sigh as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I don't know if I'm just tired, but this cot isn't too bad," he remarked as humor momentarily brightened his dulled gaze.

It took her a couple tries before she managed to choke out, "Yeah, it's … not bad. I guess." Still unable to meet his gaze directly, she undid her belt and dropped it along with her hip pouch to the side so that she could sit more comfortably on the grass. Once she was situated as well, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly in an effort to control her nerves. After repeating this a couple more times, she nodded for him to continue.

"Well, it's like this," Kakashi began, pressing his fingertips together thoughtfully as he stared at a spot just over her left shoulder. "The Jounin Council convened today to vote in the new Hokage."

Sakura sucked in a sharp breath but refrained from interrupting. She'd known it was only a matter of time before Danzou was named the official Hokage, but she'd sort of hoped that with everything going on the vote would have been postponed.

"Obviously, Danzou's name was brought up as a candidate. But there was one other person as well that they were considering."

Her brow furrowed as she quickly ran over the older ninja she knew of that they might approve. When she couldn't come up with anyone that was even remotely capable of doing the job, she asked, "Who?"

Kakashi's eye locked with hers steadily as he said, "Me."

All she could do was gape at him dumbly. Now she knew why he'd suggested she sit down. If she hadn't been, she would have probably collapsed at this point.

It wasn't all that astonishing that Kakashi's name would be mentioned for the role of Hokage. She knew, probably better than most people, that he would be an excellent leader for the village. What knocked her speechless was the fact that his name was brought up by the Jounin Council when the Daimyo had already approved another. As far as she knew from reading up on the history of Konoha that had never happened before. Whoever the Daimyo selected was _always_ ratified by the Jounin Council.

Sakura shook her head sharply and held up a hand as if to stop him from speaking further. "I'm sorry, but … did you just say that the Council nominated you for Hokage? In place of Danzou?"

"No. They actually voted that the office be split between me and Danzou."

"_What?!"_ He had to be kidding. There was no way the Jounin Council would do that, not when the village structure was already so frail. To have two Hokages was just asking for trouble.

Kakashi spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "It was Shizune's idea, not mine. Although, I have to say she did have a good point on the workload aspect. The village needs to be rebuilt and we need to keep generating revenue to do so. I don't think _any_ one person could hope to do both at the same time and succeed."

"But that's why the Hokage has to delegate certain responsibilities," she countered. "With two Hokages at work, no one is going to know who to go to for what purpose. Not to mention all the political pressure and constant intrigues… It just seems like it'd be easier to have one clear leader who assigns people to certain responsibilities."

"Again, this wasn't my idea. It was presented by a Council member to the entire jounin assembly, and it passed without a single vote against it."

Sakura's eyebrows rose at that. "_Really_? Everyone voted in favor of this?"

He nodded and even though the lower portion of his face was covered, she could tell he was smiling. "Really, they did."

She felt an answering smile pulling at her lips and hastily tried to bite it back. There was no doubt in her mind (or his either, apparently) that the reason everyone voted in favor of the decision was because they wanted Kakashi to be the next Hokage. "Will this be permanent or –"

"No, it's temporary. Until Tsunade recovers or Konoha is put together again, whichever comes first."

"And then?"

"And then…" Kakashi sighed and shrugged. "I suppose they'll take another vote to determine the sole Hokage."

This time, she couldn't keep the grin from spreading across her cheeks. "So, Kakashi-_sama_," she remarked, putting emphasis on his new title. "When do we start?"

Confusion furrowed his brow as he repeated, "We?"

"Yes, we," Sakura returned as she gave him a stern frown. "You and me. I _am_ gonna be your assistant … right?"

Judging by the way he quickly shifted his gaze elsewhere, that wasn't what he'd been thinking at all.

Disappointment slammed into her hard, instantly wiping the smile from her face as her shoulders curled forward. Apparently, she'd been very wrong to assume that he would want her by his side for this. It hurt to know that even now her knowledge wasn't what he was looking for. Taking a deep breath to try and tame the tears, she managed a steady voice as she said, "It's okay, I get it. I mean, I'm probably not the only one in the village who knows the difference between an HFCC-1500 and an M-1640 requisition form."

"Sakura…."

"And of course _everyone_ knows how to calculate the projected budgets for the village, not to mention figuring in a padding area should things run higher than planned."

"Sakura—"

"Oh, and you probably have someone in mind who already has a good rapport with the other Kage assistants and who—"

Her eyes widened when Kakashi suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth.

"I'll remove my hand in a minute," he explained slowly, as if to make his words as clear as possible, "but only after I tell you that you are the _only_ person I would ever consider for an assistant position with me, and that the only reason I would hesitate to ask is because it will mean a big change in your current responsibilities."

His hand fell away, but she could still feel the heat and weight of his palm across her mouth. Her heart began to pound hard in her chest and she had to fight the urge to lick her lips. "W-What do you mean exactly? How will my responsibilities change?" she asked softly, hating how her voice quavered so noticeably.

"Well, for starters you probably won't be able to go on as many missions as you'd like to," he replied. She watched curiously as his fingertips rubbed together idly; it was the same hand he'd placed over her mouth just moments before. "And that would mean a setback in any future promotions."

"I can live with that." Yeah, it would be a bit difficult to be a chuunin for a couple years longer than her peers, but that was okay. At least she'd already cleared the chuunin hurdle.

"It would also mean you'd have to cut down a lot of the time spent at the hospital," he continued, watching her intently for her reaction.

She wrinkled her nose and shrugged. "I won't deny that'll be a little tough, but I'll still be a part of what goes on there. Besides, I'm a fast learner and I work hard. I'll be able to keep up, no problem." Or so she hoped.

"You would also have to give up on searching for Sasuke."

That made her breath catch in her throat a little. For so long now, all that had mattered was bringing Sasuke home. She'd worked and trained every single day for almost three years just to gather the skills necessary to see her goal to completion. Sasuke was the reason why she'd sought out Tsunade in the first place, why she'd perfected her chakra release to the point where it was reflexive to her. And now….

Now, she wasn't sure all of it _had_ been for Sasuke. What if, all this time, she'd been telling herself it was for Sasuke when in fact … it was for herself? She'd made herself stronger because she _wanted_ to be. It wasn't for Sasuke or Naruto or even the village she served. It was because she, Haruno Sakura, was tired of living for someone else.

A strange sense of calm permeated her entire being. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, as if suddenly the entire world made sense. Yes, she still wanted him to come home safely, but she no longer felt the need to drag him back by whatever means necessary. He would either make the decision on his own or she would never see him again. And quite honestly … she was okay with that.

Sakura lifted her eyes and met his stare evenly. "What time and where?" she asked.

For a moment, Kakashi's eye widened a bit, letting her know that he hadn't been expecting that answer from her. Then, his features softened happily and there was a definite thread of pride in his voice as he said, "Seven tomorrow morning, outside the Hokage's office. And see if you can locate a couple boxes as well as a spare desk. I've a feeling we'll need them."

They both stood and walked toward the entrance of her tent. "Very well, Hokage-sama. I'll even bring the coffee."

He paused in the entry to turn and beam at her cheerfully. "And that, Sakura, is why you were always my favorite."

Sakura rolled her eyes and gave an inelegant snort. "No, I'm your favorite because I'm the only one who would allow you to shove all the boring paperwork off onto them."

"Well, there is that. I take my coffee black, by the way."

"You'll take it however I give it to you and like it."

There was a strange look in his eye as he regarded her silently. His hand started to lift from his side, and for a second she thought he was going to touch her like he had at the gate. A tingle worked its way down her spine, contrasting sharply with the warmth coiling through her stomach. Her heart sped up again and her breath caught in her throat as she recalled how nice it had felt to have his fingers combing through her hair so gently.

But then he stopped. Very slowly, his hand fell back to his side and disappeared into a pocket. Sakura chewed her lower lip and looked away. Heat rushed to her cheeks as she struggled to push back the unfamiliar sensations coursing through her.

Kakashi lingered just a little longer before stepping out of the tent. "Goodnight, Sakura."

She cleared her throat and whispered, "Goodnight, Kakashi … sama."

Sakura waited until he turned his back before shutting the tent flap securely against the night air. Even though it wasn't particularly cold out, she had goosebumps marching up and down her arms and the hairs on the back of her neck were on end. She went quickly over to her cot and sat down to remove her boots for bed. Not bothering to change (and since she only had one spare set of clothes right now, she didn't want to sleep naked) from her usual attire, she pulled her bedroll on top of her and tried to get some sleep.

Unfortunately, her mind was unwilling to cooperate with her worn body. It kept replaying everything that had happened over and over again – particularly the way that Kakashi had touched her earlier. It had only been a simple thing, barely even worth mentioning to Ino, but it had felt like so much more. She knew it she was probably reading more into it than was intended and blamed it on the fact that she was physically drained and under a lot of emotional stress.

She continued to toss and turn on the narrow frame as best she could long after he'd left, until finally she gave up and just stared at the pointed top of the tent. Tomorrow was going to be such a busy, important day … and here she was stuck with a bout of stupid insomnia.

Great.

* * *

"Is that the last of it?"

"Yes, Danzou-sama," Torune answered as he passed a stack of documents over to Fu for shredding.

Danzou nodded and sank carefully into his chair. His joints always ached more at night when the air was cool and moist, but tonight the discomfiture of his own body took a back seat to the turmoil in his head. As soon as he was able to slip away, he'd hastily returned to his office and ordered the destruction of any and all documents that could potentially be used against him. Spies were also assigned to watch Kakashi at all times and were instructed to report back where he went and who he spoke to.

He also put into effect the _kuroi meikan_ order; essentially, it stated that all ROOT business was to be conducted privately and through coded messages. Should anyone violate that order of secrecy, it would mean death. As soon as they tried to speak or write any of what they knew, the seal on their tongue would release and act like a suicide pill.

There would be no second chances, no plea deals – no exceptions. He couldn't risk Kakashi gaining enough intelligence on him and his operation to use as ammunition later on down the line.

Things were going to be quite a bit different now … but he'd been around long enough to know how to navigate uncharted waters. He had lived through three Hokages (though the third was still technically alive herself), seen two full out ninja wars, and survived a battle with the world's most notorious criminal and his pet Uchiha. He was confident he could outlast one man with little to no political experience.

The meeting had gone almost as he'd expected, the exception being the former Hokage's assistant posing the idea of two Hokages. Had the jounin simply voted between him and Kakashi, he had been prepared to counteract their decision by threatening to inform the Daimyo. The Jounin Council couldn't risk losing the monetary support of their patron and would have backed down.

Unfortunately, it didn't work the way he had hoped. Kakashi had even refused the nomination twice and the jounin _still_ voted to give him equal status.

It had been a pretty speech, but two words in particular had stuck out to him: _right now_. Meaning, in short, that Kakashi fully intended to pursue the Hokage position for his own once the village was reassembled. He was surprisingly good at the political game … but Danzou wasn't fooled in the least. All the noble intentions and good deeds in the world couldn't hide an ambitious mind from a professional politician.

He looked up from his desk as the door opened and closed noiselessly behind the man he'd been waiting for. Sai walked further into the room, pausing at a respectful distance to bow deeply to his master. He didn't offer a word of greeting, merely waited impassively to be addressed – as was expected from a properly trained soldier.

"Report," Danzou ordered.

"As you know, I left the village with Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba and Rock Lee on an unauthorized mission to track down Uzumaki Naruto," Sai began mechanically. "It was Sakura's plan to intercept Naruto before he could engage Uchiha Sasuke in combat and convince him to stand down."

"Why?"

He hesitated a moment before admitting, "Because I said something to her, Danzou-sama, about Naruto's feelings toward her. She felt that the reason he was so persistent in locating Uchiha Sasuke was out of obligation to a promise he'd made her when they were genin."

Danzou closed his eye and leaned back in the chair. He should have figured it was for a foolish reason like that. "And what was her objective after she convinced Naruto to stop?"

"She intended to kill Uchiha Sasuke herself."

"What prevented her from doing so?" Not that he for one second believed a mere slip of a girl like her could get one blow in with someone as advanced as the last Uchiha.

"… Me, Danzou-sama. I knew Sakura didn't stand a chance were she to confront Uchiha Sasuke, so I alerted Kakashi-sama to her plan and used a clone to help guide him to our location."

His eye opened slowly at the new title attached to Kakashi's name. Setting aside the fact that Sai had acted in a way that went against his entire ROOT training, he murmured, "So … you've already heard that the jounin convened."

Sai was very careful to keep his expression flawlessly neutral. "I assumed that was the intent when the ANBU squad received us at the gate. If he was to be questioned officially, they would have arrested us all. Since they seemed only interested in him, I figured it was for another purpose. His election to Hokage seemed the most logical choice."

Danzou exhaled slowly and suppressed the pang of outrage at the reminder that the village had unanimously voted for another. One finger tapped slowly against the edge of the desk as he regarded Sai thoughtfully. "What are your thoughts on the matter?" he asked.

For a brief second, Sai's impassive façade slipped. His brow creased marginally as if whatever thoughts were going through his head were too confusing to voice. But he regained control of his expression quickly and said, "Kakashi-sama is undoubtedly one of the best shinobi in Konoha. He is the only person since his father to have a flawless track record in terms of missions. The jounin respect him, and there is no questioning his experience."

"That's not an answer, Sai. That is a list of attributes," he remarked sharply, causing both of his assistants to glance warily at him. "What do _you think_ about Kakashi becoming Hokage?"

Sai's expression faltered once again as his eyes closed and his shoulders relaxed in resignation. "I don't know what to think, Danzou-sama," he admitted at last. "During my time as part of his team, I have come to respect him myself. His methods are unfamiliar and sometimes I question the effectiveness of them, but overall he is an admirable leader."

Danzou nodded, letting his eye close. It was as he had feared. He'd had doubts about sending someone as young as Sai to infiltrate Team Kakashi, but assigning an older, more experienced ROOT agent hadn't been an option. It would have given the appearance that he was trying to supplant his man as the team leader, something Tsunade would have crushed in an instant. Sai had seemed to be the perfect compromise: young enough to assimilate with relative ease, old enough to understand the boundaries. He was a talented shinobi as well and had the potential to go far in the ranks. To lose his support was a serious blow.

"I understand," he responded. "In fact, I agree with you."

There was a brief lapse in the shredding as his assistants gawked at him in shock. Even Sai seemed taken aback by the admission, though he hid it a good deal better than his counterparts.

"Kakashi has many commendable qualities," he continued. "He also has a natural charisma that makes people want to follow him. The question is whether or not he would be an effective Hokage. Just because people like him doesn't mean he can lead them through a war."

"Kakashi-sama doesn't believe a war is coming," the dark haired man replied quietly.

"Then he's either naïve or blind. War _is_ coming, whether we want it to or not. I've seen it too many times before not to recognize the signs now. And as noble as Kakashi's intentions of peace are, at this point in time it's unforeseeable and unrealistic. We cannot put our village in further jeopardy by associating with potential enemies. This is the same reasoning employed by the Sandaime and Godaime – and look how it worked out for them."

Sai didn't say a word in response to that.

Danzou sighed and relaxed into his chair. He was tired, physically, mentally, and spiritually. He was tired of constantly scrabbling to keep hold of what he'd earned, tired of always having to fight to the top of the pile. All he wanted was to achieve something great before he died, but it seemed at times as intangible as Kakashi's mission for peace.

He ran a finger along a gouge in the desk, his eye focusing on nothing in particular as the silence extended. "A shinobi's duty is to his village," he said at last. "He is to protect it from enemies, represent it proudly in battle. He is a tool. His life begins and ends with the village. That is what it means to be shinobi."

His gaze locked with Sai's. "If the time comes, will you choose to fulfill your duty to Konoha or indulge in your love for a handful of people you barely know?"

Sai opened his mouth but closed it promptly as he averted his eyes.

Danzou managed a bitter smile and stared down at his desk. "Forgive me, Sai, for putting you in such a troublesome position. Have a written mission report ready by the end of the week. Dismissed."

He bowed again before turning and leaving the office.

Torune waited until the door latched closed before tentatively asking, "Are you certain we can trust him, Danzou-sama?"

A slow, knowing smile curved his lips. "Sai will make the right decision, Torune. Have no fear of that."

* * *

Sai frowned as the roughly constructed stool he was sitting on sank into the soft ground again. He stood up, pulled the legs free, and adjusted the position of it in the hopes that it would solve the problem. This routine had already been repeated eleven times, so he wasn't particularly optimistic on the twelfth time being a success. Gingerly, he began placing his weight on the stool top, gradually adding more and more until he was seated fully. The stool didn't budge. Sighing heavily, he picked up the portable desk from the grass at his feet and resumed his sketching.

Art was the only time he ever let go of himself. It was his release, his way of expressing himself when otherwise it was impermissible. Whatever he was feeling or thinking and couldn't divulge in words was revealed through canvas and paper. He'd discovered while exploring the various artistic mediums that certain ones fit certain moods. He worked with charcoals and pastels when he was feeling happy, paints when he was sad. Markers were for worry and fear, and he mixed all of the above when he wasn't sure what to express.

Tonight, he was in an Ink Mood: confusion.

He used ink primarily as a weapon, as if by lashing out with it he was fighting against the turmoil of his thoughts. But lately, he had been turning to it more and more as a medium source. It was fitting, he supposed. He was more confused now than he could ever recall being in his entire life.

Things had been simpler before his current mission. He had seen the world much like the sketch he was working on: black and white, no in between shades. It was all about his duty, his mission orders, his current objective. If something fell outside the scope of that, it was unimportant. Friends didn't exist. Emotions had to be curtailed. He was a shinobi, and a shinobi was a tool for the village.

And then he was given his current assignment.

Everything changed once he started to assimilate into Team Kakashi. Things – _feelings_ – he had long ago thought were purged from him began to resurface. He'd begun to remember things that had been locked away due to his training, to experience things he hadn't before. It was terrifying … but at the same time, it had felt _right_.

He had wanted to study these new feelings and ideas down to the last detail. In ROOT, the team was the machine of which a shinobi was but a single part. In Team Kakashi, it was something completely different. It was about trust and friendship, of standing by one's teammates rather than cutting them loose when they were a liability.

It was run more like a family than a squad of ninjas, and that baffled him.

Sai's brush swept across the page in a long, thin line. He didn't know what he was drawing; he rarely ever did when his emotions dictated the picture. His hand simply moved where it wanted. There were sketch books filled with the product of his catharsis, pages of random lines and curves that were either abstract masterpieces or had the appearance of a child's art. On occasion, the unplanned shapes took true form, becoming withered flowers or twisted trees. He didn't think tonight was going to be so defined.

It didn't surprise him to receive a summons from Danzou. He had actually been expecting it as soon as he crossed through the gate, and the fact that it didn't come for almost two hours after their arrival had been puzzling – not to mention a little disconcerting. Whenever Danzou was angry (though he never expressed it as such) he would not acknowledge the one to make him so. Sai had fully expected his rage. He had, after all, disobeyed orders and left the village with Sakura.

He didn't regret the action at all, but he had spent the last week formulating what exactly to say when Danzou questioned him on it later. It was considered an unforgivable crime in ROOT to lie to their master … but then, he wouldn't have been lying to say that he went with Sakura to find Naruto. He just wouldn't explain to Danzou _why_ he wanted to find the kyuubi.

The debriefing, however, had been much different than he'd anticipated. Instead of asking him about his motives or what he discovered, Danzou had instead asked him about Hatake Kakashi. He had been what Sai would almost term kind and very pleasant, which was almost worse than having him displeased. Danzou's disapproval he knew how to respond to. His kindness, he did not.

It didn't take long for him to realize the direction of the conversation. As he had guessed when the ANBU showed up at the gates, Kakashi had been nominated by the jounin for Hokage. Danzou had asked him several times, in many different ways, how long he had known about it. He had spoken honestly and said he hadn't. From there, his master had spoken of how Kakashi was yet another from the Sandaime's school of thinking, how his pacifist mentality was going to leave the village vulnerable to enemies.

Sai had to admit that he agreed with Danzou on a few points. The last three Hokages had believed in trying to unite all the Hidden Villages together, to form a ninja coalition. However, despite their talks of peace, some of the worst attacks in Konoha's history had happened during their tenure. There was the Third War, which culminated in the Nine-Tail decimating a good portion of Fire Country before the Yondaime was able to seal it away. During the Sandaime's second time in the role, Orochimaru staged an attack with Suna that had not only destroyed a portion of the village but had resulted in his demise. And now, when Tsunade was Hokage, the village was completely destroyed and their future uncertain.

He respected what they – and Kakashi and Naruto – were trying to accomplish, but it was simply not practical. Ninja were first and foremost warriors. They were assassins, soldiers, living weapons. Peace meant an end to what they were. He could _appreciate_ why it was such an appealing ideal … but he didn't _understand_ it.

Sai didn't know how to be anything except what he was. He tried to though. He read books and went to popular social events, opened dialogue with his peers made every effort to emulate their mannerism. It was important to him that he understand these dissimilar ninja. The job called for him to learn their motives and plans, but it extended beyond that for him. He needed to know the _whys_ of their actions more than he needed to know the _whats._

And that was the problem. Because he was so engrossed in comprehending why they did the things they did, he lost sight of who he was: a shinobi of Konoha. A member of the elite ROOT force. He wasn't like them at all, which was why he didn't get them. He was a weapon of the village, bound by _duty_ to obey orders and complete the missions assigned to him.

Danzou had reminded him of that tonight – not directly, that is. He had done so by discussing Kakashi's past, how he was too emotionally involved with his students to do the job as efficiently as he could. Sai had listened silently as his master spoke of Hatake Sakumo's failure and how he feared Kakashi was treading the same path. As much as he respected Kakashi as a team leader, he could see why Danzou was so worried for Konoha.

A soft sigh escaped his lips and he closed his eyes, letting his hand still against the paper. As much as he wanted to set aside his thoughts and let the ink flow across the page, it seemed tonight that escape was not to be had. No matter how hard he tried to clear his mind, he kept hearing Danzou's voice in his head repeating the question he'd posed before dismissing him:

_If the time comes, will you choose to fulfill your duty to Konoha or indulge in your love for a handful of people you barely know?_

Sai opened his eyes and stared dully at the swirls and strikes he had drawn. Disorganized, chaotic marks with the occasional run of ink causing the edges to waver. As usual, it was the perfect representation of his thoughts. He was about to set it aside when his gaze suddenly fixed on one perfect line slicing diagonally across the mess. There were no bleed marks, no sudden bend or break to it. The ink was smooth and solid before tapering at the end into a thin, barely there tail. It alone was the one steady place in a muddled world.

He set the ink sketch down and stood up, his features hardening as it became clear what he must do.


	2. Chapter 2

**_And bring me word what he doth say to thee_**

* * *

"Good morning, Kakashi-sama."

"Good morning, Sakura." He took the cup of coffee she handed him mid-stride. She fell in beside him with a stack of documents and folders tucked to her chest.

"Okay, so your agenda today is rather tight. That means you don't have time to sneak off into the filing cabinet to read," she continued, smiling in thanks when he held the office door open for her.

Kakashi made a mental note to change reading locations as soon as possible. This would make it the sixth time in the three months that he'd been in his new position that she'd forced him to switch hiding spots. She either knew him too well or had an uncanny ability to track him down. Whatever it was, it was highly disruptive to his reading breaks.

Sakura set her load down on the smaller desk just to the left of the door and pulled the day planner off the top. While his office wasn't all that big, it was definitely a lot more spacious than sharing it with three other people. For the first month of his tenure as co-Hokage, he'd set up shop inside Danzou's office. To say that it had been awkward was the understatement of the century. If it hadn't been for Sakura, he doubted he would have bothered leaving his tent to go to work. It was difficult trying to accomplish anything when one's coworkers were frigid and very unhelpful.

Fortunately, his assistant was not only very well versed in village policy and procedure, she also wasn't afraid to stand up when he was … misdirected. Like when Danzou decided to have a meeting with the Konoha Council to discuss public relations and village reconstruction – both of which fell under _his_ jurisdiction. Sakura had somehow found out about it and he'd gotten there in time to prevent anything from happening.

He'd then had a nice, long talk with Danzou in private about how they were supposed to be working together _for Konoha_ rather than playing petty political games. He wasn't sure if anything had truly gotten through to the man, but he'd received an apology and that was all he could hope for.

Kakashi took a sip of coffee through his mask and, ignoring the way she wrinkled her nose, sat down in his chair. "Lay it on me," he said with blatantly false cheer.

Sticking her tongue out at his sarcasm, Sakura took her usual perch on the corner of his desk. She'd claimed the spot almost as soon as the office was finished, much to his dismay. It was difficult maintaining eye contact when her shapely legs were within clear view.

That was another thing that had changed: his feelings toward the petite young girl running one finger down the day planner. At first, he'd thought that maybe he was getting softer in his advancing age. She'd been so devastated over losing track of Sasuke yet again and he'd initially thought that maybe he was responding to that. But after spending quite a bit of time with her (everyday, to be more precise) in both personal and professional settings … he realized it was more than just him wanting to comfort her in some way.

He cared about her, more deeply than was normal for teammates. It wasn't love, or at least he hesitated to call it that. But it was definitely more than friendship.

There had been times over the last month or so where he almost could have sworn there was some reciprocation on her behalf. It was something in the way she looked at him sometimes, or how her smile always seemed a bit brighter for him, or the way her cheeks would color coyly if they were in close proximity. When they were at his new home together, either working on one of the many projects he had going or simply enjoying the other's company, she would be more casual about touching him. She was never inappropriate or unduly forward, but sometimes her hand lingered a little too long on his or she leaned a little too close against his side.

He'd entertained the idea of testing his theory somehow, but the voice of good sense always stepped in to remind him of the many reasons why that wouldn't be a good idea – foremost of which being he didn't want to risk damaging a perfectly good friendship. There was a very good chance he was misinterpreting her actions completely. When it came to battle tactics and reading a fight, he understood even the slightest nuance perfectly. But when it came to interpreting relationships, he was the first to admit he was utterly hopeless. He didn't want to risk that with Sakura, not when he needed her friendship so badly.

"So, today you have a meeting with Asahi Kumo to try and arrange for the Daimyo to send more supplies," Sakura began. "I made copies of your proposal for Asahi-san to take with him and I also sent copies ahead to the Council and Danzou-sama as well."

She handed him two neatly bound packets and as he leaned forward to take them from her, he couldn't help but notice she was wearing new perfume. He debated briefly on complimenting her on it, but decided it wasn't entirely appropriate since they were at work. "This is the fourth time we've had to request further supplies from the Daimyo," he commented, and there was a bitter edge to his words that he wasn't quite able to control.

Sakura let out a weary sigh and her smile faded. He almost regretted saying anything at all. "I know," she replied, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair back behind her ear. "It's frustrating that we depend so heavily on his mercy and resources, but what choice do we have?"

Kakashi slouched further in his chair as he regarded her levelly. "We can ask for support from Suna; that's what other choice we have. Gaara already offered assistance two months ago."

"Yes and the motion was denied because Danzou-sama felt it was a breach of security."

He scowled at the reminder of _that_ disastrous meeting, which had culminated in him taking the rest of the afternoon off to go punch something. That something ended up turning into a sparring session with Sakura when she tracked him down later. He'd left there sore, out of breath, and feeling less frustrated at the lack of real progress … as well as a bit aroused. It was then that he'd realized his feelings toward her were shifting into unfamiliar territory. Even now, just recalling the determined glint in her eyes as she threw him over her shoulder without an ounce of restraint was enough to make his heart pulse a little faster. And when she'd straddled him once he was down (there was a very good chance he'd let her do it – but he wouldn't ever tell her that) he hadn't dared to move because if he did there was a very real chance he would have….

His memories of that day were broken when Sakura suddenly leaned forward and placed a hand over his. Her fingers were cool and lightly callused from her profession, deceptively delicate when compared to his own. Kakashi's breath caught when she squeezed his hand sympathetically. Heat began to filter through his blood at the simple touch and it was all he could do not to lace his fingers with hers.

"It's okay, Kakashi-sama," she said softly. "Tsunade had the same problems as well, and yet she managed to get quite a bit done. I'm positive you'll be able to do the same, maybe more so since the Konoha Council likes you."

Kakashi let out a quiet snort as a small smile forced its way across his lips. "If you say so. Arguing with you is useless anyway."

"Of course it is," she responded cheerfully as she withdrew her hand, much to his disappointment. "Besides, you're too lazy to put up a fight."

"Mm, that's true enough, I suppose. Okay, so what else am I doing today?"

Sakura skimmed down the planner until she found the next entry. "A mandatory finance meeting for both Hokages with the Council. I have your meeting with Asahi-san scheduled to end about a half an hour before it starts to allow for his endless questions."

He hummed in agreement. Asahi Kumo was one of the most talkative people he'd ever met. He was also a bit of a weaselly little man who was always on the look out to see what he could possibly gain from a situation. So far, in return for putting in a good word with the Daimyo to secure supplies, he'd been promised that his son could try out for the Academy once it was built. The only reasons Kumo wanted his son enrolled in the Academy were for bragging rights and the off chance that the boy actually made it in and up the ranks. It would be very beneficial to have a personal tie inside the village. Kakashi doubted the boy would make it beyond the chakra test, but it was a minor concession in return for much needed food and labor.

"After the budget and finance meeting, Shizune wanted to discuss hospital repairs and medic assignments on teams," Sakura continued. "Apparently, Danzou-sama has been neglecting to assign one medic per team and has denied her an audience to hear her case several times now."

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his eye wearily. "I don't know what she expects me to do about it. It was decided that team assignments and village defense were his responsibilities."

"I think she's hoping you'll perhaps get her case heard by the Council. Believe me, Kakashi-sama, if she could fight this one out herself she would. But she can't even get someone to acknowledge her concerns."

He knew Sakura was right, but this sort of thing had been happening far too often for his liking. The job of the Hokage was to serve and protect the people. It wasn't to maintain old grudges and biased opinions. He was getting very tired of constantly having to play the villagers' champion. It wasn't right.

But someone had to do it or else no one's voice would be heard.

Raking a hand back through his hair, Kakashi muttered reluctantly, "Make a note to try and speak with Koharu-san after today's meeting. She's more agreeable than Homura-san and seems to like Shizune enough to listen."

Judging by the radiant smile Sakura flashed him as she made a note in the schedule, he'd done what she'd been hoping for. It was suddenly worth the headache to know that he'd made her happy. "Okay," she went on relentlessly, "after speaking with Shizune you're slated to go over building specs with Omaru-san. Apparently, there's been some trouble in digging up one of the former clan estates."

"Which one?"

He knew the answer as soon as she hesitated to say it. "The Uchiha one."

Kakashi nodded slowly and pretended not to notice the flicker of pain across her features. "I'm not surprised. The place is riddled over with traps. Has anyone been injured yet?"

"One worker, a chuunin who comes from a family of carpenters, stepped on a hidden explosive tag. Shizune managed to salvage his leg, but he'll be out of commission for a very long time."

"Let's have Omaru-san leave that portion of the village alone for now and focus more on the areas we're familiar with and that need our immediate attention." He paused as a sudden thought occurred to him and glanced at Sakura. "By the way, do you happen to know why he's starting with the Uchiha compound over, say, the Hyuuga one?"

Sakura frowned and leaned across his desk to slide a folder out from the middle of the stack. In the process, her shirt gaped a little at the neck, allowing him a quick glimpse at a pale blue bra strap. Was it just him or was her top unzipped a little further than usual?

"It says here…" she replied, flipping through the pages of the construction proposal. Her brow creased in confusion as she flipped back a couple pages and began reading more thoroughly. "Actually, the Uchiha compound wasn't on the list of approved locations. Huh, that's weird."

Kakashi arched a sardonic brow at her. "You really think so?"

Her head snapped up and her eyes rounded in shock as she caught his meaning. "You mean he … but why? What's so important there that he'd order workers to risk their lives going through the remains rather than continue working on the main portion of the village?"

He shrugged and asked back, "Why is he so obsessed with the Uchiha clan, period? It's rather unhealthy, if you ask me."

Sakura's lips twitched but she managed to keep the grin from spreading further. "That's not nice, Kakashi-sama," she reprimanded, but the effect was ruined by the mischievous gleam in her green eyes.

Kakashi folded his hands across his stomach and rocked back in his chair idly. "I'm co-Hokage, which means I don't have to be nice if I don't want to."

Instead of giggling at his response like he'd hoped, her expression softened as she tilted her head to study him. "You're nice to me."

He wasn't sure how to answer that. On the one hand, he could always tell her that of course he's nice to her. Without her, he'd have quit a long time ago. Not to mention seeing her smile gave him a reason to bother showing up for work on time. But on the other hand … the way she said it made him wonder once again if perhaps he was reading more into her response than she'd intended. There was nothing to suggest anything other than friendly interest. It would be foolish to assume otherwise.

Rather than pursue the topic further, Kakashi stood and picked up the first two folders from the stack. His thigh brushed hers in the process, causing her to suck in a sharp breath as a soft pink shade dusted her cheeks. Hmm … maybe he'd been wrong after all and she _was _interested in something more than platonic friendship. Or maybe she just had ticklish thighs.

That … actually wasn't much better.

Without asking, Sakura accompanied him from the office and back down the hallway toward the front of the building. Two ANBU guards fell in automatically behind them. Despite her assurances to the contrary, he still felt the place was much too big. Yes, it doubled as his new residence as well … but did he _really_ need to have two meeting rooms? Also, there were two extra bedrooms toward the back that stood empty about ninety percent of the time. One saw use only when Sakura happened to be working late and didn't feel like going back to her own place, wherever that might be. She kept an extra set of clothing and everything in that small room, and he was fine with that. The other bedroom, however, was a waste of space as far as he was concerned.

Truthfully, he had to admit that on occasion he did find reasons to keep her late. He wasn't aiming for romantic purposes or anything; being followed around by ANBU every minute of every day sort of put a damper on those designs, even if he'd been so inclined as to act on them. Mostly, it was just that he'd gotten rather fond of her company over the last few months. She was fairly pleasant when she wasn't cracking the whip over his head and had a quick wit about her. He liked hearing her laugh at his jokes, however lame they might be, and respected her opinion when she voiced it.

He also liked having her cook him dinner, and he was certain his ANBU guards felt the same way. If left to his own devises, he probably would have starved himself to death right now were it not for her and whoever was unfortunate enough to draw the evening guard duties. Genma in particular hated having to work the night shift and was very vocal about how he didn't sign up for the elite force just to cook chicken. A fortunate thing, too; the senbon user was a lousy cook.

Asahi Kumo, Minister of Trade for Fire Country, rose from his chair as they entered the meeting room. He was a rather portly man with a thick mustache, black eyes, and deeply receding hairline. He was never without a smile, which made his eyes crinkle and look smaller than they were, and he always had a kiseru in hand, though he was kind enough to refrain from smoking indoors. Overall, he wasn't a bad guy to deal with.

His one major drawback (more so than his opportunistic nature in Kakashi's book) was that he had a horrible habit of openly ogling Sakura's trim physique, something that became more and more bothersome as their dealings became more frequent. There were times in the past where he'd wanted to remind the other man that Sakura wasn't just office eye candy and that if she knew how he was peering at her ass she'd hand him his on the end of her boot.

Sakura, for her part, was either oblivious or just brushed him off as being yet another pervert in a country overrun with them. He wasn't sure if either option was particularly reassuring, but at least she wasn't encouraging the attention. She was polite, charming, and very quick to ask about his wife, Asahi Migume. Kakashi relished watching Kumo's jaw tighten at the mention of his spouse. It was no secret that Mrs. Asahi was a bit of a shrew who had a firm grip on her husband's shorthairs.

"Thank you for coming all the way out here, Asahi-san," Kakashi greeted, keeping his tone warm but neutral.

Kumo smiled back, but his eyes had already roamed to Sakura. "It's _pleasure_ as always, Hokage-sama," he murmured back, his eyes lingering a little too long on her breasts. "Sakura-san, you look particularly lovely today."

Sakura bowed politely and offered a sweet smile in return. Kakashi couldn't help but notice that her top seemed to be zipped higher than it had been not too long ago. "Thank you, Asahi-sama."

"And what a lovely fragrance you're wearing today, too," the older man continued, much to Kakashi's irritation. "Is it new?"

She laughed at the compliment and replied, "No, not really. My friends helped dig out the remains of my apartment the other day, and among the things that survived was my lotion of all things."

"Well, it suits you and is most refreshing after a long day of traveling."

"Then let's not stall you any longer than is necessary," Kakashi cut in quickly. Some of his mounting impatience must have crept into his voice because Sakura shot him a questioning glance, to which he shrugged innocently in response.

Kumo's jaw tensed a little and his dark eyes hardened at having his game interrupted. He smiled tightly and said, "Yes, let's get down to business."

The three of them sat down at the wide the wide table, which had definitely seen better days but was still serviceable. Sakura had argued about putting it in the meeting room, stating that was unsightly for one of Konoha's Hokages to have a banged up piece of furniture out for guests to see. His rebuttal was that it was a conversation piece – and he'd been right. People commented all the time about the 'poor table', and he had fun telling them all about how he'd acquired it: it was rescued from the decimation of the village by a group of cats, he'd found his assistant using it for shelter (she'd whacked him good later for that one), it was one of the tables from the Academy lunch room... The only problem with telling stories was that he couldn't remember who he told what and Sakura refused to notate it all.

The Minister of Trade pulled a pen from the sleeve of his kimono and immediately opened the new supply request proposal when Kakashi passed it over. His brow was deeply knitted as he read over the first page quickly, his lips moving silently with the words. He continued flipping through the pages one by one, occasionally offering a grunt or making a note in the side margin in his tiny, cramped script.

Kakashi hated this portion of the meeting. The anticipation of wondering whether it would be approved or not always left his stomach a mess, and he'd stopped trying to read Kumo's handwriting a long time ago, It was impossible, even with the sharingan – and yes, he'd tried. He'd ended up with a headache and nothing to show for his efforts. On a good note, their other requests had all been accepted. Yes, this one was quite a bit larger than the last, but it would also go a lot further in repairing the village.

After what felt like an eternity, Kumo looked up from the requisition. He was frowning. He never frowned. Kakashi felt a bead of sweat slip down his spine. He waited silently as the other man tapped a slow, thoughtful finger against the plastic coversheet of the report.

Finally, Kumo sighed and asked, "How many supply requests is this now? Six? Seven?"

"Five, actually," Kakashi corrected quietly. He had a bad idea where this was going.

The Minister nodded slowly and glanced at the report again. "While the Daimyo appreciates the added security that having one of the oldest Hidden Villages provides, he is concerned that past aid hasn't been used as effectively as it might."

"Our use of past supplies is fully detailed in the report, Kumo-san. Page twenty-three, I believe."

"The Daimyo's support to us in these hard times has been absolutely invaluable," Sakura chimed in, leaning passed Kakashi in order to smile at their guest. "There's not a ninja in the village who isn't grateful for it."

Kumo's expression softened a little at her words – or maybe it was her smile that did the trick. Unfortunately, not even Sakura's pretty features were enough to sway him. "The Daimyo will be pleased to know his contributions have been well received, but he is still concerned that perhaps it could have been used more efficiently."

He was playing politics. While the villagers, civilian and ninja alike, still struggled on a day to day basis, Kumo was going to sit there and play the political game. Kakashi knew without a doubt that every last scrap of lumber, every minute particle of donated food, was detailed clearly in his report. He'd checked and double checked and tripled checked it. Sakura had gone through it after him, as had Shikamaru, just to be sure his calculations were correct. Every last item that had been acquired in their last deal was accounted for and used for the greater good of the village.

Still though, perhaps the Minister might have some ideas to stretch things a bit further. This sort of fell into his job description, after all. Perhaps it would be best to hear him out.

A sudden idea struck him, one which he couldn't believe he hadn't considered sooner. Cocking his head inquiringly, Kakashi smiled at the other man and said, "How about a tour of the village repairs? That way, you can see our progress first hand and relay it back to the Daimyo."

He knew it'd been the right idea when Kumo's dark eyes lit up eagerly. "Yes, let's take a walk through your village and discuss this more in depth. Sakura-san will be coming too, of course?"

Before Sakura could so much as open her mouth, Kakashi said, "Unfortunately, Sakura has paperwork to see to before our next appointment." He could feel her glaring at the back of his head, but he didn't care. If he was going to give a tour of Konoha, he wanted the Minister's focus to be on the rebuilding progress – _not_ her ass.

"Ah, what a pity," Kumo replied as he leaned around Kakashi to peer at the girl beside him. "The company of a lovely young lady would have been most welcome."

Sakura's laugh held a hint of tightness to it, which let him know she was definitely angry with him. "Well, you know … someone has to do the _real_ work in this office," she replied with all the saccharine sweetness of an acid drip. Oh, yes. She was pissed. He had a feeling he was going to be hearing about this later.

Kumo chuckled and winked at her. "Kakashi-sama cracks a fierce whip, does he? Maybe new employment is in order. As it just so happens, I have a position open on my staff for a junior secretary. Anytime you'd like a gentler hand, let me know."

Kakashi didn't notice his hand had clenched until he felt the sharp, painful press of his fingertips into his palm. And try as he might, he couldn't get it to relax again. Sakura giggling at the blatant innuendo didn't help in this endeavor.

"Thank you, Asahi-sama, I'm very flattered," she replied. "I'll keep your offer in mind should I need it."

"Yes, please do," the Minister murmured warmly as a flare of lust crept through his beady little eyes.

Rather than allow the conversation (re: flirting session) to continue any longer, Kakashi stood up and said cheerfully, "If you'll come with me then, Kumo-san. I'm eager to hear your thoughts about our reconstruction efforts. Sakura, please make sure those reports are completed."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Hokage-sama," Sakura answered with the most fearfully pleasant smile he'd ever seen in his life. "I'll have something on your desk by the time you get back."

Her words gave him pause as he was about to follow Kumo, but he didn't comment further on it. All he could hope now was that the something wasn't her resignation. Maybe he _should_ have let her come along. She was more than capable of handling herself, after all. Perhaps he'd been too quick to try and protect her from lasciviousness … or perhaps he was transferring some of his pent up jealousy onto her.

As soon as they stepped outside the one story building that was his home and office, Kumo's guards fell in alongside his ANBU squad. The Minister's escort easily doubled his, but that would mean absolutely nothing in a fight. Kumo's men were obviously the mercenary type, hired muscle who were loyal more to the paycheck than the man supplying it. His ANBU were professional killers and protected him because that was what they were trained to do.

He wasn't really looking forward to showing Kumo around the village, but it was a necessary evil and a lesser one compared to having to sit by quietly while the man hit on his assistant. His gut was telling him that a tour wasn't going to change the Minister's mind, and his brain had a feeling that his gut was right. Kumo had come to Konoha prepared to deny them – at least until he found something that he wanted.

The tour went pretty much as he'd expected. Kumo asked about a thousand questions about why this was being done that way and how come they were doing that like this. He wanted to know what parts of which new buildings were constructed by the Daimyo's workers and with the Daimyo's supplies. When he'd found out an entire wing of the new hospital had been completely constructed with the donations from his master, he'd only been half joking as he suggested the wing be named after the one responsible.

After an hour or so of wandering about the village, they made their way toward the area that would be dedicated to the new Academy. It was an appropriate place to end the tour, Kakashi thought, seeing as the Minister's son would one day be attending there (so he thought) and it also brought them full loop back to his office. Kumo had been smiling and chattering nonstop the entire time which, while a bit grating on the nerves, was preferable to him frowning.

"I can see you've done well in making the Daimyo's generosity stretch," Kumo commented as they stopped to survey the workers scrambling up the wooden framework of the future Academy like enormous ants. "You've done quite a bit in getting Konoha put back together."

"Thank you, Kumo-san. It wouldn't have been possible without the Daimyo's support – which I hope we still have," Kakashi replied as casually as possible.

Kumo's eyes narrowed as he watched the progress taking place in front of him and nodded. "Mm… about that. To be quite frank, Kakashi-sama, while all of this is very impressive, the Daimyo is still concerned over the cost of it all. Essentially, everything here is being donated, with no hope of fund recuperation. This is eating a hole in his pocket, one that keeps getting bigger and bigger."

"But it will return to him tenfold once Konoha can get back to business as usual," he countered. "We provide for Fire Country defense and pay taxes to the Daimyo for use of the land. In another six months, we'll be fully operational again and the hole in his pocket will be on the mend."

The Minister's smile slipped a little and his gaze never left the construction site as he said, "The Daimyo is wondering if it might actually be more affordable in the long run to outsource Fire Country defense to another village."

Kakashi's heart lurched and his stomach clenched up like he'd just gotten punched. He couldn't really mean that … could he? No, Asahi Kumo might talk a lot and was certainly a horrible lech, but he never said a word he didn't mean. For a moment, he couldn't seem to find the words to speak and when he did they came out a bit more coolly than he'd intended. "Is that really what the Daimyo thinks or is this the Minister of Trade speaking on his behalf?"

Kumo's gaze slid to him and the triumphant glint in his eye was mirrored by the smirk on his lips. "For all your inexperience in the political arena, you certainly catch on quickly, Kakashi-sama," he replied softly. "The idea had been mentioned in passing during a meeting, but it was never seriously considered. However, it could be brought up again … more emphatically."

Taking a deep breath while reminding himself for the hundredth time that Konoha needed the Daimyo's support, he tucked his hands in his pockets and said, "Let's just cut the vagaries and get right to the heart of the matter. What do you want to insure this doesn't get mentioned again?"

The Minister's smile was anything but cordial and reminded him very strongly of the rodent he was reminiscent of. He turned his back on the construction to cast a meaningful look back at Kakashi's office building. "Your assistant. She's quite lovely. Very, ah … _nubile._ Tell me, is it true that kunoichi are the most flexible women in the world?"

His jaw clenched angrily and when he spoke next his words were clipped and rather gruff. "If by flexible you mean they're capable of killing someone in a number of ways, then yes. Konoha's kunoichi have the best track record out of every Hidden Village."

Kumo chuckled and clapped an overly friendly hand to Kakashi's shoulder, as if they shared some unspoken male bond. "For someone who wanted plain speech, you're being rather obtuse," the man remarked drolly.

Kakashi arched a brow and gave the hand on his shoulder a pointed glance before shrugging it off and taking a step back. The hired bodyguards shifted position slightly, their eyes narrowing warily at the ANBU guards across from them. His guards didn't so much as breathe differently. They were ready in case something should happen, but were conscious enough of the politics involved not to offer any sort of threat – not unless their Hokage ordered it.

"That's a rather hypocritical complaint," Kakashi murmured, not bothering to try and control the dangerous tone slipping into his voice. The Minister was toeing a very hazardous line right now. It didn't matter that it was Sakura involved. Well … not completely, at least. Had it been _any _kunoichi of Konoha, he would have been just as put off by the vulgar hinting. The fact that it was his former student and current assistant was just an added irritant.

Unfortunately, even though Asahi Kumo was politically savvy, he was incredibly slow at picking up on a threat – or else he was so secure in his position that he didn't think any harm would come to him. He chuckled again as if what Kakashi had just said was highly amusing and continued, "Yes, a very good point there. Very well, let me say it like this: if you can arrange a private encounter for me with your assistant, say sometime this weekend, then I can guarantee you that the idea of outsourcing Fire Country's defenses will be completely forgotten."

The ANBU to his left, a young recruit whose name he didn't know, shifted slightly and muttered, "Hokage-sama…?" His movement drew the attention of two bodyguards across from him, both of whom were edging their hands toward the knives on their belts.

Kakashi placed a hand to the new recruit's chest and said, "Stand down."

It took a moment, but eventually the recruit's body relaxed. Satisfied that no one was going to do anything rash, he turned back to regarding the Minister icily. "Let me see if I understand this correctly," he began, speaking slowly and with a calmness he didn't necessarily feel. "You're asking me to order _my assistant _to entertain you for an evening in exchange for guaranteeing the Daimyo's continued support of the village."

"That sounds about right," the older man agreed, his smile broadening.

He nodded once and looked away. "We're done here."

Without waiting for Kumo to finish trying to find his words, Kakashi turned his back and walked away with his fists buried deeply in his pockets and angry tremors working through his entire body. He'd given the man a chance to retract his request, which was more than he honestly deserved, but the offer hadn't been taken. And he wanted no further dealings with the Minister of Trade.

"It's just one night, Kakashi!" Kumo called after him. "One night and your village's survival will be guaranteed. I promise you she'll enjoy it!"

He ignored the hissed, "Don't," from the ANBU directly behind him as he stormed back over to the politician. A bodyguard moved to try and intercept, but one glare from him had the man frigid with fear. Kakashi didn't stop until he was right in Kumo's face, causing the older man to suck in a sharp, startled breath.

"Leave my village," he ordered in a low, furious growl.

"Or what?" the older man whispered back smugly. "You need me, remember?"

Kakashi felt a nasty, cruel smile twist his lips and it must have shown in the uncovered portion of his face because suddenly Kumo's features blanched as he took a quick step back. "No, Minister, you're mistaken. Konoha doesn't need you. _You _need _us._ Because without our forces protecting Fire Country from invasion, you wouldn't be in the position of comfort you are right now."

"I _will_ have the Daimyo hire outside protection," he threatened, but his voice lacked any real conviction.

His gaze swept over the assembled mercenaries around Kumo, most of who were looking rather intimidated as they shuffled from one foot to the other. A soft, caustic laugh broke from his lips as he replied, "You mean like these men? They follow money. The ninja of Konoha protect Fire Country out of _duty_. Once your mercenaries get a better offer, they're gone. We stay because this is our home – though that can change very easily if necessary. I hear Iwa is rather pleasant this time of year."

He left the shivering, pale faced man behind and didn't bother sparing so much as a glance back. Yes, he knew there would be repercussions for the less than civil exchange … but he'd hopefully have an action plan made before then.

Kumo's remarks about Sakura had certainly pissed him off, but it hadn't been the driving force behind his decision to expel him from the village. This was something that had been brewing for a while. Today was simply the cherry on the sundae, so to speak.

As he passed him his ANBU escort, he heard the frog masked man on his right chuckle. "Well said, Hokage-sama."

"As deserving as it might have been, it wasn't at all well said, Saito," he replied curtly. He'd done exactly what he'd tried to prevent with the guards; he'd acted rashly. It wasn't the behavior of a Hokage, and now the village might wind up paying the price for it.

Saito tilted his head just enough to regard him but didn't pursue the conversation further.

He walked through the door and immediately headed toward his office. As expected, Sakura was waiting for him. She stopped pacing the minute he entered and turned on him with fury burning in her eyes. However, she took one look at his face and the anger drained from her features. "What happened?" she asked quietly, as if dreading the answer.

"When does the last post leave today?" he demanded as he rounded his desk and dropped into his chair. He fumbled through the various stacks of documents, searching vainly for something to write with.

"Why?"

"I need to write a letter to Suna and it has to go out today."

A piece of paper and a pen magically appeared in front of him. He grunted his thanks and took the offered items from her.

Sakura chewed her lower lip, her fingers twisting in the fabric of her skirt uneasily. "Kakashi-sama, what happened?" she asked again, this time much gentler.

Kakashi continued writing rapidly as he replied, "I just informed the Minister of Trade that Konoha will no longer require the Daimyo's assistance."

A horrified gasp broke from her, too quick to be stifled by her hand. "You … you didn't," she breathed, speaking through her fingers. "Please tell me you didn't."

"I did."

"Why? Why would you do that?" Her voice was starting to gain in strength and volume in response to her agitation.

He paused and looked up at her steadily. "Because I'm Hokage, a fact he's forgotten during our communications."

Her lips pursed angrily and the emotion was reflected in her eyes. "So, what, you cut off relations with him over some macho male thing?" she snapped. "I know as well as you that Asahi Kumo is a slimy, nasty pervert, but he's been able to provide so much for us!"

"No, Sakura," Kakashi argued. "He's provided for us at his convenience, _not_ because he cares what happens to the village. I'm done playing that game. Gaara offered us aid as a courtesy from one ally to another. We're going to contact him and see if that still stands."

"But the Council—"

"Will have to deal with it." He went back to writing the letter.

Sakura continued watching him. After a moment, he heard her sigh shortly before she put a hand on his wrist. "Your handwriting is atrocious," she complained. "Gaara-sama won't know if you're asking him out on a date or for help."

Kakashi looked up at her again, his heart practically leaping into his throat at the touch of her fingers. "If it's written in my hand, you'll be exempt from any fallout," he explained.

She plucked the paper neatly from his desk and wrinkled her nose. "I'm your assistant. I'll be involved even if Pakkun writes it – and his writing is much better than yours."

Frowning at the jab to his penmanship, he set the pen down and lifted his hands to signal his surrender. "How soon can this be ready?"

"I'll have it done by lunchtime, Hokage-sama," she called back as she walked briskly toward the door.

"Sakura."

She stopped under the entry way and turned to look at him inquiringly.

Kakashi hesitated briefly before saying, "Thank you. And I'm sorry if this causes you any trouble."

Sakura gave him a soft, warm smile – the one she seemed to reserve only for him – and said, "Your welcome, Hokage-sama. Don't worry about me. I know you probably had a very good reason for doing what you did. All I hope for now is that the Council is able to see that."

With a final smile, she exited his office completely, leaving him to stare after her and wonder if perhaps he _had_ acted solely for her. It wouldn't be the first time he'd set aside duty in favor of her. Sighing heavily, Kakashi pushed his hitae-ate up and scrubbed a hand across his eyes. He missed the good old days when things were simpler.

* * *

"And that … that … _bastard_ had the nerve to threaten me! Who does he think he is?!"

Danzou listened to Asahi Kumo's outraged complaints without saying a word. He had been in a meeting with the Academy instructors to discuss increasing the work load of the future genin so as to initiate them more quickly into working teams when Torune had informed him the Minister was there and had to see him immediately. Since he knew the Minister should have still been in a meeting with Kakashi, he'd asked the instructors to reconvene tomorrow morning instead.

He wasn't at all disappointed in making that decision. The man had been positively livid over his exchange with the other Hokage. It had taken a while to filter through all the cussing and outraged exclamations, but the general gist of it was that Kakashi had not only refused further aid from the Daimyo but also threatened to pull the village out of Fire Country completely. The threat had been a bluff, of course, but it still put their relationship with the Daimyo in jeopardy.

As another bonus in his favor … Sai was one of his assigned guards today. He knew the young man was still waffling between sides and hoped perhaps this would convince him that Kakashi was wrong for Konoha. Sai was the key to his designs; he was ROOT trained but he had also developed a rapport with the common ranks of Konoha. If he expected to establish himself as the sole Hokage again, he needed to have the village united. And what better way to do that then to have someone on both sides support him?

Waiting until Kumo had to stop or risk hyperventilating, Danzou cut in, "I sympathize with you, Minister. I am curious though what you said to provoke my counterpart."

Kumo's eyes widened in shock and it took him a couple tries before he was able to stutter, "W-What _I _did to…?"

"Yes." While he didn't agree with Kakashi on quite a few fundamental aspects, he respected the younger man enough to know he never acted without good reason. He wasn't going to toss his support to just anyone without knowing the facts behind it.

The Minister of Trade licked his lips uncertainly as he smoothed his hands down the front of his silk kimono. "I asked if he would be kind enough to arrange a … _meeting_ between myself and his assistant," he admitted cautiously.

Danzou's eye narrowed. "Haruno Sakura was personally trained by the former Hokage. I would strongly suggest you conduct yourself with all due decorum when speaking to and of her."

The man flinched backward a step.

"However," he continued thoughtfully. "I do _not_ think that your request deserved such a harsh response. And I will be certain to address this transgression with Kakashi and the Council. The Daimyo has been most generous to us and it is highly inappropriate to treat his representative so ungraciously."

His words had the desired effect as Kumo's features softened. The Minister of Trade bowed low and murmured appreciatively, "You are most kind, Danzou-sama. Thank you for being a reasonable voice in this matter. I look forward to the day when our dealings are more exclusive."

Danzou allowed a smile but didn't respond to the comment as he stood up. "If you'll excuse me, Minister, I have business to attend to."

"Oh, yes, yes! My apologies for taking up so much of your valuable time." The man bowed deeply and stepped out of the way as Danzou and his guards swept out of the office.

He waited until they were well out of earshot before glancing at Sai's masked face and remarked, "This has made things very complicated. The land we claim for our village is only so at the clemency of the Daimyo. We cannot afford to infuriate him, or else we'll find ourselves forced out of Fire Country altogether."

"Then you feel that Kakashi-sama should have ordered Sakura to have sex with the Minister?" Sai questioned.

"Of course not," Danzou scoffed. "She's a kunoichi of Konoha, not a whore. Were I in the same position, I would have denied Kumo as well – but I would have done so more tactfully than Kakashi. As inappropriate as the request was, Asahi Kumo is still a man who can easily make our lives very difficult. Kakashi is a highly capable shinobi, but he lacks political tact."

Sai remained silent as he processed what he'd just been told.

Danzou didn't press the issue further or ask him for an opinion. There was a time to push and a time to let things happen. This fell into the latter category, though he was confident that in the end Sai would come back around to his way of thinking.

And if not, then he would be eliminated. If he wasn't being useful, then he was a liability – one Danzou was taking a serious risk on.

* * *

Sakura followed at a respectful distance behind Kakashi, her planner in hand and butterflies flittering through her stomach. They were going to meet with the Council to discuss the reparation progress and budget as well as the overall state of affairs. The letter to Suna had been finished and went out with the noon post. Unless something untoward happened, the Kazekage would be reading it tomorrow and they would have a response the day after.

She still couldn't believe what Kakashi had done. And she was nervous as to how the Council would react to his quick fire decision to bring in outside help. Suna was their ally, yes, but they were also rivals. It was the same sort of relationship she'd had with Ino for years, only on a bigger scale and with much higher stakes. And if things went wrong, the person who would be held accountable for that would be Kakashi.

Her stomach lurched sickeningly and it took quite a bit of effort to keep walking.

Maybe it was just her being a lonely romantic, but over the last few months she felt as if her relationship with her former teacher had begun to change. It wasn't a bad thing really. Actually, it was rather pleasant. He seemed more relaxed around her, a bit warmer than she was used to. There were moments where she'd be sitting at her desk in his office and she'd swear he was looking at her. Sometimes, she managed to catch him sneaking glances her way. He was always quick about averting his eyes and pretending he hadn't been … but it wasn't quick enough for her to miss the look in his eye. The closest she could come to describing it was longing, and her heart told her she was the cause of it.

But what did her heart know anyway? There'd been a point in time where it'd convinced her she was in love with a backstabbing, village betraying, murdering, sadomasochist.

All the same, she couldn't help but feel there was something beneath the surface of their current working relationship. And she couldn't say that she was particularly adverse to the idea of maybe taking things a bit further.

If anyone would have asked her a couple years ago what she thought of Hatake Kakashi, words like 'hard ass' and 'coldhearted' would have been near the top of the list. But after spending quite a bit of time with him in both a personal and professional setting, she saw there was much more to him than she'd thought. He was funny when he wanted to be, thoughtful in the little things, considerate of her as a person. He always listened to her and never treated her as anything less than a peer, which was kind of neat considering he was so much older than her. He was also incredibly patient, more so than she'd ever have given him credit for when she'd been a genin.

The only problem was that he was co-Hokage and she was his assistant. Had she known before hand that she'd come to feel for him like she did, she wouldn't have taken the job. Then again … if she hadn't, she never would have gotten to know him like she did.

They were outside the Council Room doors now. Outside and to either side were four ROOT nin, which meant Danzou was here already. Just as one of the ANBU guards went to open it, Kakashi said, "Wait a moment."

Sakura's brow pinched in confusion as he turned to face her. What she could see of his face was carefully blank, so devoid of any emotion that it made the queasy sensation in her stomach intensified.

"Sakura, I need you to do something for me," he began, speaking so low that she had to lean in to catch his words.

"What is it?" she asked back.

"If things go badly and I end up getting put out of office … there's a magazine shoved between the planning specs and cost analysis reports. I need you to—"

"I am _not _disposing of your porn!" she hissed, though she made a mental note to remove it from the office anyway.

Kakashi blinked in surprise and said, "No, I was wondering if you could bring it to me should I go to jail."

The only response he got was a heated glare and a hard smack to the shoulder. So much for all those nice thoughts she'd had of him just a few seconds ago. He was just another one of Konoha's perverts!

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Kakashi arched a brow at the ANBU guard closest to him.

The masked man chuckled softly. "I'll get it to you, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you."

Sakura rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "Can we please just get this over with?" she demanded crossly.

"In due time. But I need to ask another favor of you."

"What, do you have a closet full of drag clothes you need me to get rid of, too?" she bit back sarcastically, causing a couple of the ANBU to quickly turn their snickers into coughs.

"Actually, this one is very important," Kakashi replied, shooting a wry glance at the laughing guards.

She huffed irritably and grumbled, "Fine, what is it?"

"Don't get yourself involved in this. Let me take the hit."

Sakura regarded him for a moment, surprised by his request. He was trying to protect her again, just like he had so many times before. She wasn't sure if she was touched by his concern or insulted that he didn't think she was capable of defending herself. But the minute she noticed the gravity in his gaze, any thoughts of rebelling against his order faded.

Taking an uneven breath, she nodded and whispered, "Okay."

He took her completely off guard when he reached up to brush his fingers through her hair gently. It was gentle and more like a caress than his usual ruffling job – just like he'd done at the gate when they'd first returned to Konoha. She didn't know what to make of it. The gesture was too tender to be friendly but not so much that it implied something deeper.

Before she could analyze it any further, his hand fell away as he took a deep breath and released it. He nodded and said, "Let's do this."

The ANBU guard placed a hand on either door and pushed them open onto the meeting room.

Directly ahead of them, sitting at a long, curving table, were the Elders, the Council … and Danzou, who was looking entirely too severe for comfort.

Sakura fought the urge to reach for Kakashi's hand as they entered the room.

* * *

Kakashi knew the minute he saw the expressions on the Elders' faces that they already knew about his fallout with Asahi Kumo – and that Danzou had been the one to inform them. Now, whether they knew the full version or the one his fellow Hokage chose to tell them was a mystery. He'd find out soon enough though.

He nodded a greeting to those assembled and circled around the table to take his seat next to Koharu, with Sakura taking a stance behind him as was customary. The ANBU guards remained just outside the door with Danzou's escort. In the Council room, weapons were strictly prohibited.

That didn't mean weapons weren't concealed on those in the room, merely that they had to remain out of sight. Every Council member _was_ a ninja, after all.

This week, Homura was serving as the meeting chair. He and Koharu switched off in the role just to insure that things were kept fair and bias, though to be honest their thoughts were so linear that it seemed rather pointless. The older man remained seated as he spoke in a voice that was much clearer than one would expect from him, "The meeting of the Konoha Council and Hokages is now called to order. The first piece of business up for discussion is the rebuilding of our trade bridges and roads. Masato-san, if you please."

The Council member addressed stood up and began addressing those assembled. It was rather irresponsible of him, but Kakashi zoned out within the first few words of the man's report. He couldn't help it, really. Masato had only one manner of speech: boring. He had monotone and flat deliver down to a T. It made paying attention to him impossible.

From there, the meeting progressed in the usual fashion: everyone went down the table giving status reports on how their area of governing was going. Kakashi's turn came and went without incident, which was a little unusual. He'd been expecting some sort of inquisition for his earlier actions. He wasn't foolish enough to believe he'd dodge the kunai completely. Chances were they were waiting until the end of the meeting to bring it up.

Finally, the last Council member said their piece, which normally would have signaled the end of the meeting. He heard Sakura exhale in relief and wished he could tell her it was a little early for celebrating. Kakashi waited as Homura leaned forward and said, "Before departing, are there any other matters that need to be brought to the Council's attention."

There was a moment of tense silence before Danzou rose and replied grimly, "Yes, Homura-sama. There is one highly sensitive matter I wish to address with the Council."

Kakashi maintained a cool front as he waited for the other man to continue.

When the chair motioned for him to proceed, Danzou gave a partial bow and said, "Earlier today, the Minister of Trade for the Daimyo visited out village. He came at the behest of Hatake Kakashi to discuss the acquisition of more supplies. During the course of this meeting, Minister Asahi made a request of Kakashi-sama that was, to put it delicately, inappropriate in nature. As a result of this, Kakashi-sama acted imprudently and demanded that the Minister leave Konoha. He acted without consulting with the Council and to the detriment of the village. When the Minister relayed their discussion to me, I attempted to resolve the matter so as to lessen any impact Kakashi-sama's careless decision might have on receiving aid."

A heavy, weighted silence fell on those in the room as all eyes canted toward him. Homura leaned around Koharu with a stern frown. "Is this true, Kakashi? Did you toss the Minister of Trade from the village like a common vagrant?"

"For the most part, yes," he replied, earning him a few startled gasps from the rest of the Council members. "Though I'd argue that I treated Kumo-san like a common vagrant. His behavior was far less admirable."

Homura spluttered indignantly and looked about as if asking for someone else to handle things, like Kakashi was an unruly child he just couldn't deal with at the moment. It was Koharu who took up the interrogation as she twisted about to level an austere frown at him. "Perhaps you would be so kind to enlighten us as to what Minister Asahi requested," she remarked.

Kakashi glanced briefly beyond her to Danzou, who gave the appearance of being detached from the proceedings. He was playing a very careful game here, giving away just enough information so as not to be accused of withholding but not enough that it absolved his imagined rival of any guilt. The only way to correct this was to be perfectly candid – something he hadn't wanted to do given the nature of the situation and who was currently standing behind his chair.

"The Minister said, in the presence of myself and the four ANBU waiting outside these doors, that in exchange for making certain the Daimyo didn't outsource Fire Country's defenses he wanted me to arrange for a sexual encounter between him and my assistant."

If there had been a way to preserve Sakura's dignity and his credibility, he would have done so in a heartbeat. He didn't need to see her face to know she was probably a brilliant shade of red. Kakashi could feel her gaping at the back of his head as every Council member turned to regard her, some curiously and some in surprise.

Koharu broke the silence first as she shot a glare down toward Danzou's end of the table. "I'm assuming you knew the nature of the Minister's request before presenting it to the Council, Danzou-sama," she bit out sharply.

"Yes, I did," Danzou admitted openly. "However, it is my belief that the subject of the request wasn't as relevant as the way in which it was handled. Asahi Kumo is a very influential man in the Daimyo's court and it would be foolish to anger him unnecessarily."

"You said you spoke to him, correct?" the older woman persisted.

"I did."

"And did you happen to address at any point in this conversation the Minister's presumptuous attitude concerning Kakashi-sama's assistant?"

"It was mentioned that Sakura-san was a well noted kunoichi in our village and that proper respect should be demonstrated."

"Then the matter was settled," Homura concluded. "Kakashi-sama, please try to reestablish our ties with Minister Asahi at once so that we might—"

"No."

All eyes fixed on him, stunned by his blatant refusal. Even Danzou couldn't quite hold on to his neutral expression.

"I beg your pardon?" Homura demanded incredulously.

"I said no," Kakashi repeated coolly. "Konoha won't have dealings with a man who shows no respect for the people living here."

"But … we _need_ the Daimyo's support!" Yetsumo, one of the Council members, exclaimed. A ruddy hue was starting to creep over his face; not a good sign, going on past experience. The man was enormous and had a temper unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

"Actually, we don't," he persisted. "As I said to the Minister, Fire Country needs us more than we need it. Did any of you know that Konoha and Ame are the only two villages still living off the donations of our ruling Daimyo? Every other Hidden Village is completely autonomous, save for the land taxes they pay."

"Yes, but their villages weren't destroyed," Koharu responded calmly. "We are trying to rebuild our home. Now is not the time to try and sever supply ties with the Daimyo."

"Now is the perfect time to do just that."

"We don't have the means to support ourselves at this juncture," Homura argued. "How do you propose we acquire food? Our villagers are ninja, not farmers!"

"Not all of Konoha's residents were ninja," Kakashi reminded him. "The recent census report shows that the civilian to ninja ratio is about even. A lot of the civilians living here _did_ own the agricultural lands just outside the village. However, due to the fact that we received all our supplies from the Daimyo, they were free to export everything they grew. If we can institute a trade arrangement with the farmers, then—"

"What you're suggesting is that we tax poor farmers for our needs," Danzou interrupted quietly.

Kakashi met his gaze coolly and corrected, "What I'm saying is that we strike a bargain with the civilian folk. We allow them to sell their product to us. Outside of the restaurants buying locally, every scrap of produce brought into the village was from the Daimyo – which _he_ took as a land tax from poor farmers. We will be offering them a chance to make money, not lose it."

"It's clear that you've given this some thought, Kakashi-sama," Koharu remarked, a hint of a smile touching her lips. "I would be very interested in seeing this plan carried out in the near future. However, it doesn't solve our immediate issue, that being the need for immediate aid. The food stores are safe for now, but they won't be in a few weeks. While you've certainly done wonders overseeing the reconstruction and clean up efforts, there is still a lot that needs to be done. We cannot afford to recall our forces from missions to help with this. How do you propose we proceed from here?"

"We ask our allies for aid," he replied. "Suna offered a couple months ago to send us supplies and extra labor. If the offer is still on the table, with our combined efforts we can have the village rebuilt and fully functional within three months."

"Out of the question," Danzou snapped. "Suna has no official stance of alliance with Konoha and has even gone so far as to stage an attack against us in the recent past. It would be a gross breach of security to allow a potentially hostile force—"

"That attack took place under the former Kazekage," Kakashi argued quickly. "We shouldn't judge Gaara by the actions of his predecessor. He has proven to be true to his word in assisting us when needed, including at the Kage Summit when you, Danzou—"

"I will not have foreign ninja help in the rebuilding of our village! It will give them a tactical advantage when the war starts—"

"There _is_ no war, not unless we start one and certainly not with Suna. Gaara offers us aid freely, with no strings attached. I would rather our village be rebuilt _by ninja_ than be forced to pander to some—"

"Enough!" Homura directed a stern glare in both their directions before continuing gruffly, "This bickering is getting us nowhere. The facts are these: the Minister of Trade holds heavy sway with the Daimyo. He has abused his position abhorrently, which resulted in Kakashi-sama cutting off relations with him. While I've no doubt you soothed the Minister's bruised ego, Danzou-sama, I am in agreement with Kakashi-sama that it is beneath us to cater to his demands any longer."

"What we need," Koharu took over, speaking much more peacefully than her counterpart, "is an official plan of action. And since our Hokages are at odds in this regard, I am suggesting that they _both_ create and present plans to the Council. We will then compare the two ideas and decide from there which will be the most beneficial to Konoha."

A general murmur of approval was issued by the rest of the Council at her suggestion, and Kakashi agreed that it was perhaps the most logical solution – at least in theory. He and Danzou had such radically different approaches to village policies and direction that he doubted there would ever be a happy meeting of the minds between them. No matter who won over the Council, the other was bound to be displeased.

And since he really didn't like being unhappy, that meant he had to insure his proposal was the stronger of the two. This was going to take a lot of work and planning to pull off. It would probably include very late hours pouring over figures and making contingencies, predicting potential questions or concerns and preparing answers. Sakura would undoubtedly be there with him every step of the way.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Kakashi nodded once and said, "I already sent a letter to Suna inquiring if the aid was still available. A response should arrive sometime tomorrow, which means I can have an official proposal ready three days from now."

Homura's eyebrows rose. "That soon, Kakashi-sama?"

"Yes." 'Maybe' would have been closer to the truth, but he knew the longer he gave Danzou to prepare, the more solid his argument would be. He would simply operate under the assumption that Gaara agreed and hope for the best.

"Danzou-sama, will three days give you enough time to formulate your strategy?" the chairman asked.

"Three days will be suitable," Danzou replied. Behind him, his two aids were scribbling furiously in their note books and whispering between each other.

"Then the Council will reconvene in three days time to hear your suggestions and decide which will be the most beneficial. Dismissed."

As soon as the order was given, the Council members rose and immediately made their way for the exit with their assistants in tow. Kakashi stood, reports in hand, and headed for the door with them. Sakura was right behind him, but he didn't dare turn to look at her. He could very well imagine how hurt she was over what transpired and angry at him for not having said something sooner. And, to be honest, he really didn't have the resolve to face her just now.

Several Council Members tried to stop him for further questioning on the way, but Sakura was quick to step in and say that he was late for his next appointment and suggest that they submit their inquiries with her for later consideration. It sent a jab of guilt through him that even now, after he'd made a grand mess of things and publicly humiliated her in the process, she was still looking out for him.

Eventually, they made it out of the room and began walking quickly down the hall toward the main entrance. His ANBU escort immediately took up station around the both of them, which served as a deterrent for anyone else looking to approach him. Sakura jogged to keep pace with him, carefully joggling her planner and the various folders she'd brought to keep them from falling. "Kakashi-sama?"

"Not now, Sakura," he said, wincing at how unnecessarily harsh his words came out. It was brought on by his lingering irritation as well as the added burden of trying to create a foolproof action plan for Konoha's future in three days time, but she more than likely would interpret it as him being angry at her.

"Kakashi-sama, please."

Her fingers closed around his wrist, causing him to stop and turn toward her. "Sakura, I—"

His words were cut off as she kissed him.

Any and all higher brain function shut down in the brief seconds that her mouth was pressed to his through the fabric of his mask. Things like being in a very public place and the appropriateness of kissing his assistant – who was also his sixteen year old ex-student – didn't factor through his head at all under the warmth of her lips. It awoke the primal part of his psyche, the one that every so often entertained the idea of them together. She drew back far too soon for his liking and he had to catch himself from chasing after her.

Sakura stepped back, her lower lip caught between her teeth and a bright pink flush to her cheeks. Her eyes were bright and warm with such affection that it very nearly drove the reasoning out of him once again. "You really tossed Minister Asahi out because of me?" she asked.

It took him a couple tires before he was able to clear his throat and mumbled, "Not … entirely."

"How much of it was?"

"… About sixty-five percent." There was something in the way she was looking at him that acted like a truth serum; it made the admission roll of his tongue with startling ease.

She smiled and it was the happiest smile he'd seen from her in a long time. "That's more than fifty percent of your reasoning," she observed in wonder.

He didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing at all.

Sakura glanced away shyly and put just a little more distance between them as more Council Members began emerging from the meeting room. Danzou and his entourage went by without so much as a passing glare, which was probably for the best since it was very obvious something had just happened between him and Sakura. She waited until they were further down the hall before asking quietly, "With your permission, I'll cancel everything after your meeting with Omaru-san so that we can get started on your proposal … and maybe talk about this a bit further?"

Kakashi nodded numbly and said, "Yes, that sounds good."

She favored him with another sweet smile before stepping out of his way so that he could take the lead again. He took a moment to try and regain control of his heart rate before following the rest of the Council out of the administration building. The entire walk back to his own office was consumed by one thought and one thought only: Sakura cared for him. They were going to spend the entire afternoon together alone … and she cared for him.

A bead of sweat slipped down the curve of his cheek, disappearing as his mask absorbed it. Tonight, his resolve was going to take a massive beating. He just knew it.

* * *

"He's putting the village at unnecessary risk. Why am I the only person to see that?"

Sai watched silently as his master continued to pace irritably across the length of his office. He couldn't recall ever seeing Danzou so visibly upset before in his entire ROOT existence and it was more than a little unnerving. His master truly believed that Kakashi's plan for bringing in outside aid from Suna was dangerous.

And he, reluctantly, had to agree. He also had to wonder whether some deeper strategy was in play here. It was Suna, after all, that had informed the jounin they would act as if Kakashi was the Hokage. While he didn't want to believe the leader of Team Seven was so duplicitous, logic dictated that it was far too coincidental to ignore. It wouldn't be the first time a high ranking, well respected member of the village turned out to be a traitor.

In addition to that was the issue concerning the Minister of Trade. Even though the expulsion from Konoha was justly deserved, Sai couldn't help but feel there was personal motive involved. Maybe it was his ROOT training, but it seemed to him that a would-be Hokage would want to remain completely objective and without emotions to compound a decision. Kakashi spoke out of anger and placed the village in a tougher predicament than it had been – something that was not only irresponsible and impulsive but also unlike him at all. The Copy Ninja he knew was always calm under pressure.

That is unless it involved Sakura. She alone seemed capable of swaying him. Sai had already seen it several times over the course of his relations with them, the most recent being when he forewent returning to Konoha to take on his duties as Hokage in favor of finding her. Allowing one person so much control, however unwittingly it might be, was a detrimental flaw.

Before today, Sai had been inclined to think that perhaps Danzou was mistaken in his opinion of Kakashi. His personal experiences spoke contrary to what he was being told about the man. However, after witnessing the events at the meeting and seeing a whole different side of the man he thought he knew emerge … his master was correct. Hatake Kakashi was a danger to Konoha, whether he knew it or not.

"We need to devise a strategy, Danzou-sama," Torune said as he continued scanning through a document quickly. "That is the only way to prevent Hatake Kakashi from destroying everything."

"It's too late, Torune," their master disputed as he finally took a seat behind his desk. "You heard what the Elders said after the meeting; they think his idea is brilliant. It doesn't matter _what_ plan we present in three days. They have already decided on his."

"But there has to be something we can do!" Fu exclaimed sharply. He winced and mumbled an apology when he remembered to whom he was raising his voice.

Fortunately, Danzou was too preoccupied with his thoughts to reprimand his assistant's tone. Their master let out a low breath and ran his unbound hand down his face wearily. Sai waited quietly in front of him, watching for any indication as to what he planned to do.

Finally, the older man's eye narrowed as he leaned back in his chair pensively. "Politically, there is nothing we can do," he mused out loud, tapping a finger to his lips. "Kakashi is clever. He'll find a way around any loopholes we throw at him."

Sai's gaze flickered to Torune and Fu when they stopped what they were doing to exchange confused glances. He was uncertain and perhaps very wrong as he was in no way an expert in emotional responses, but their expressions didn't strike genuine to him. He'd read about 'fake' responses before in a magazine that Yamanaka Ino had given him. The article had also mentioned other 'tricks to fool your man' so he wasn't positive the information he garnered really applied to this situation.

Danzou stared at a fixed spot on his desk for several long seconds before lifting his gaze … to regard Sai. "When confronted with a foe, what is your response?" he asked.

The question was part of the ROOT training process. During the first week, new initiates had their hands bound over their head and were made to stand naked in a pitch dark room as their instructors struck them while demanding answers to a list of questions. Every answer, wrong or right, was delivered with a blow, the goal being to teach them how to endure under pressure. Hearing it asked to this day still brought back the memories of that week in sharp detail and caused his military induced instinct to assert control over him.

"Kill them," he replied automatically. After the initial jolt of hearing those words, his heart slowed down to coincide with his breathing: inhale, three beats, exhale, three beats. Over and over again so as to maintain a steady delivery of adrenaline to the body.

"Why?" his master persisted.

"To protect the village I serve and…" There was a break in the familiar litany as Sai realized what Danzou was suggesting. Inhale … two beats.

Danzou smiled, pleased that he had caught on. "That is our only option."

Without consciously doing so, Sai shook his head and muttered thickly, "No."

Torune and Fu's shock was truly legitimate this time. His master, however, arched his brow and repeated, "No? Why not?"

"Because … Hatake Kakashi is not an enemy of Konoha," he replied slowly, still in the process of sorting out his own thoughts.

"Do his actions pose a risk to the village?" Danzou pressed, and there was a sharper, more authoritative cut to his words that had the same effect as his earlier question.

"Yes, but he is not acting maliciously. He truly believes this is right." It was strange to hear himself speaking so openly, as if another person had taken hold of his body and was pulling the words from him by force. His role was not to question those in authority but to serve in whatever capacity they ordered him to for the betterment of Konoha.

Danzou's face remained impassive as he said, "When Orochimaru attacked this village, he believed his actions were right. When Pain destroyed the village, he believed he was acting for the greater good. The Uchiha Clan believed in the truth of their rebellion. The world is full of men with strong convictions, Sai. That doesn't mean those ideals are right or good for all."

"But … Hatake Kakashi is not like them. He has demonstrated on multiple occasions that—"

"Did you know that his father, Hatake Sakumo, allowed his feelings to interfere with his duty as well?"

Sai looked up at those words. A strange, numbing feeling swept over him, one he had never experienced before. Was this what shock felt like?

Danzou nodded gravely and continued, "Oh, yes. Decisions based solely on emotions runs in the Hatake line. As a result of Sakumo's actions, Konoha lost a major battle and suffered greatly in the war. His intentions were not purposely malignant – just as Kakashi's are not now. But history has a way of repeating itself if we fail to learn from it."

Perhaps it was his ROOT conditioning, but what Danzou said made sense. As much as he liked Kakashi as a person, there had been multiple times in the past where he had acted in ways that defied a shinobi's sensibilities. And to allow his personal feelings to affect his own judgment was exactly the same thing. He had to disregard his own experiences and focus only on the larger picture, that being whether Hatake Kakashi was a suitable leader.

The answer came surprisingly easy once his emotions were taken out of the equation. He knew what needed to be done. It would be a difficult decision, but it was necessary for the sake of Konoha. His duty, as a shinobi, was to protect the village – no matter whom or what threatened it.

Sai met his master's gaze steadily and asked, "What are your orders, Danzou-sama?"

A slow, pleased smile crossed Danzou's lips as he drew a kunai from inside his robe. "Eliminate the threat."


	3. Chapter 3

**_The ides of March are come_**

* * *

"Okay, so thanks to Omaru-san's report we now have a more concrete completion date for the village repairs," Sakura commented as she began reviewing her notes from their conversation. It was difficult to focus on facts and figures with his hand smoothing up and down her shin leisurely. In return, she rubbed her bare foot along his thigh, enjoying the feel of hard muscle beneath the worn fabric of his pants.

Now that she knew how he felt about her, she didn't have any qualms about invading his personal space just a little – or his closet, for that matter. All she had here was a change of underwear and her spare jumper, which wasn't nearly as comfortable as donning one of his oversized shirts and her shorts. She'd had to roll the sleeves back almost to the middle of her biceps just to keep them from dragging while she'd cooked.

But dinner was done now and they were both sitting on the couch with their legs stretched out and facing each other. A giant mess of blueprints was spread across the entire coffee table with a few bound reports on top. They each had a document in one hand and a pen in the other to jot down ideas as they came.

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, a crease forming between his eyebrows as he tapped the end of his pen against his cloth covered lips. His eye moved quickly over the report he was reading, the other one remaining firmly closed in absence of the hitae-ate that normally covered it. While she'd changed, he'd made himself more comfortable as well. It wasn't often she got to see him in his undershirt, but every time she did it was a real treat. He had wonderfully defined arms, with just the right amount of muscle to make her drool but not enough that he looked bulky. She like the way his ANBU tattoo moved with the tiniest shift of lean muscle beneath his skin.

"Nine months is a lot longer than he'd initially projected," he finally commented as he flipped to a new page, effectively breaking her bicep-induced trance. "It'll take longer once the Daimyo's workers clear out."

"Do we know how many on the construction team _do_ work for the Daimyo?" she asked, leaning over to grab a new report off the table. In the process, she just _had_ to curl an arm around his raised knee to keep from falling off the narrow couch. It was just a coincidence that her braless breasts pressed into his leg. She couldn't quite keep from smirking when she heard him suck in a sharp breath.

Kakashi scowled at her and muttered, "Tease." There was a darker glint to his eye, however, that said he'd enjoyed the brief moment of contact.

She stuck her tongue out in reply. It was only fair, in her opinion. He distracted her, she returned the favor. "So, do we?" she persisted.

Making an annoyed sound, he reached down and rifled through a small stack of documents on the floor. He found the one he wanted and flipped through until he had the desired information. "A little over half the work force has been donated by the Daimyo," he replied.

Sakura's eyes widened at the figure. "That's … a lot."

He shrugged and tossed the report back onto the pile. "Well, Omaru-san's job was to oversee fairly minor repairs and construction projects. We've never _had _to rebuild a village before, so it's understandable he would be ill-equipped for the task."

She nodded, frowning as she began scanning the new report. "So I guess the best option would be … to decide what part of the rebuilding Suna can do without causing a security risk. You know that's all Danzou has to say to convince the Elders that your idea won't work."

Kakashi grunted at that and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I know," he sighed heavily. "That's the sticking point to it all: how to satisfy Danzou."

Sakura huffed in exasperation and tossed her report onto the table. She'd spent the last several hours reading and her eyes were aching horribly. She also had the beginnings of a decent headache starting in her temples. Letting out another breath, she rubbed a hand across her eyes and said, "Do you have any idea how to do that?"

"No, not really. And I probably won't have an answer to that, at least not tonight. It's pointless to keep strategizing until we get a finalized headcount from Suna anyway. Hopefully, we'll get that information early tomorrow. You lightened the schedule already, right?"

"I did," she confirmed, stretching her arms over her head as her back curved into an arch. "You only have two things to do tomorrow: sign off on a supply shipment to the outskirts of the village and meet with the Business Association to discuss possible recompense for the loss of profit and repairs to their shops."

"Seeing as the entire village was, you know, blown up, I really don't see _what_ sort of compensation for lost profit they're expecting to get out of me," he grumbled

Sakura nudged his hip with her foot and frowned at him. "Don't worry about that now, okay? Save it for tomorrow."

Kakashi slid a hand back through his hair roughly before letting his head fall back against the arm of the sofa. "You're right, I shouldn't be thinking about that now. No more politics for tonight."

Her heart skipped an excited beat at his words, but she was hesitant to say anything. It was nearly midnight and he looked exhausted – probably _not_ the most opportune moment to bring up the change in their relationship, but she'd been dying to talk about it all day. She chewed her lower lip as she deliberated between broaching the topic, her fingers stroking slowly along the foot he'd wedged between her arm and side. Finally, she gave in and asked slowly, "So … can we talk about us instead?"

She could just barely make out the glint of his eye as he peered at her from his lounging position. "What about us?" he returned, his voice giving absolutely no clue as to his thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura sat up a little straighter from the tangle of their legs on the couch and said, "Well, I think it's fair to say that things are … different now. I guess what I need to know is _how_ different. Are we dating, is this just a casual thing… What is it?"

He let out a low, quiet sigh. His hand continued stroking slow lines up and down her leg, pausing every so often to trace a circle around her knee. It did things to her that all the imagined kisses with Sasuke had never been able to. "Honestly, I don't know what this is," he admitted softly, avoiding her gaze. "I just know that I'm … better."

Her brows rose. "Better?" She had no idea how to take that.

Kakashi shrugged away the wryness in her voice. "That's the only way I can describe it. You make everything around you better. You make _me_ feel better." He looked away from her again and she could just make out a deep rosy hue peeking out over his mask.

A pleased smile tugged at her cheeks, one she barely managed to keep under control. She didn't want him to think she was laughing at him or his words. It wasn't the sweeping confession of love she'd always imagined, but then she'd never in a million years have thought that Kakashi would be the one doing it. It was awkwardly delivered, oddly phrased … and it was perfect.

She finally gave in to the urge and smiled at him, unable to contain how happy his words made her. "Whatever this is, it's going to be great," she replied confidently.

His eye met hers and the warmth she saw was enough to make send a bolt of anticipation through her blood. "It's going to be difficult," he cautioned, even as he held his hand out to her. "People will talk, say things like how I've abused my position or that you're obviously sleeping your way through the ranks.

Sakura placed her hand in his, noting as he pulled her to him that his fingers were trembling as much as hers. It eased some of her own trepidation to realize he was just as nervous. She never would have guessed that the legendary Copy Ninja was anything but calm and collected, and it thrilled her to know that she was probably one of the few who knew otherwise.

"Let them talk," she whispered back. "We'll know the truth and our friends will set the rumors straight."

He continued guiding her forward until she was straddling his stomach, her knees on either side of him. She placed her hands on his shoulders while his settled on her hips. His breathing was shallow and at this angle she could just pick out the paler grey flecks in his eye. Kakashi didn't move as her hands slid upward, caressing his neck briefly before cupping his cheeks. Very slowly, she hooked her fingers beneath the fabric of his mask and began pulling it downward.

"This could be dangerous politically, too," he continued, his voice breaking slightly as the mask inched its way down his face.

"Then I'll resign as your assistant. I can teach Ino how to do my job. Or maybe you can ask Shizune to step in again," she added, noting the flash of horror on his face at the idea of her best friend becoming his assistant.

"There's also the fact that I was your teacher." Kakashi's breath hitched as the mask started pulling away from his lips.

Sakura paused, her fingers still pinned between the fabric and his stubble covered cheek, to look at him. "Is this what you want?" she demanded softly.

His brow furrowed in confusion. "You know it is."

"Then stop worrying about other people. You aren't with them. You're with _me_."

"Sakura—"

She cut him off with a kiss – the last one he would ever get from her through that damn mask. When she pulled back, she was pleased to see a slightly hazy expression on his face. "If I don't care, why should you?" she whispered, speaking with her mouth nearly touching his. "I want this. I want _you_ … Kakashi."

A small, choked sound came from him at the sound of his name without its customary title before his hands slid up her arms to cover her fingers. Their eyes remained locked as together they pulled his mask down the rest of the way.

For a long time, all Sakura could do was stare. She'd caught glimpses over the last three months, enough that she knew he was handsome … but now that she was getting the full impact of his features, 'handsome' didn't begin to cover it. He was beautiful – in a completely masculine way. Everything about him, from the straight line of his nose to the narrow angle of his jaw to lips that were utterly kissable, was beautiful. No wonder he wore a mask all the time. If he didn't, every woman in Konoha (as well as a few men) would be on him in a lust-induced frenzy.

And he was all hers.

She watched in fascination as his lips twisted uncertainly under her scrutiny. "So," he drawled, squirming a little as she continued to stare at his mouth. "Is this going to happen every time I take my mask off?"

Sakura smiled and she knew it probably looked at loopy as it felt. "No, not every time. Just the first three hundred or so," she murmured back, letting her fingers fan across his mouth curiously. His lips were soft beneath her callused fingertips, a strong contrast to the rougher texture of a jaw line in need of shaving. She shivered when his lips parted slightly under her touch, giving her a glimpse of straight, even teeth and the wet flick of his tongue. It sent a pang of heat twisting between her legs, made her nipples tighten eagerly.

Slowly, keeping her eyes on his, she leaned forward so that her breasts met his chest and kissed him for the first time without the interference of cotton.

His groan reverberated through her chest and brought out an answering sound from her. What was supposed to have been a simple kiss very quickly turned into something more. His hands returned to her hips, urging her lower so that their pelvises fit together snugly. She gasped at the feel of his hard length pressing against her intimately, and he took advantage of the moment to slip his tongue between her lips and stroke hers. Sakura groaned at the hot, wet slide of his tongue in her mouth and brought her palms to his bare cheeks again, holding him still as she slanted her mouth against his.

She was lost in the way his lips moved against hers, the continuous motion broken only by the gentle nipping of his teeth and the occasional panted breath. Her fingers wound through his disheveled locks, pulling him closer to her as the kiss became more frantic – more demanding. His hands were firm as they touched her, running over her thighs and hips encouragingly before slipping around to grip her bottom. He pushed her hips into his in a slow, hard grind that sent them both reeling back from the kiss with startled, pleasured gasps.

Panting, shocked by how amazing such a small movement felt, Sakura gazed down at Kakashi briefly before sitting up. His eyes were both open, the sharingan swirling slightly, as she reached for the lower hem of her shirt and pulled it off of her. Her torso was completely bare to his gaze, and were it not for the heated, reverent look he was giving her she probably would have been more embarrassed about it.

He trembled beneath her, his fingers digging harder into her hips as his eyes roved over meager chest. She'd always felt her breasts were … inadequate when compared to her peers; yet another part of her physicality that was less than desirable. But with the way he was staring at her, all her insecurities seemed to vanish.

It gave her the courage to take hold of his wrists and guide his hands up over her body. She watched as his lips parted, his eyes following the path of his palms as they smoothed up the flat expanse of her stomach … her ribs… The first brush of his fingers along the slight curves of her breasts made her breath expel in a shuddering rush. When his palms glided higher to cup her completely, rubbing deliciously across her nipples, it was entirely of his own doing.

A breathy moan issued from between her lips as her head tipped back, her hips rolling into his with every gentle knead of his hands to her breasts. The feel of him pressing against her sex set her blood to boiling, made her body ache for something more. She cried out when something warm and wet closed over one nipple, and it took her a moment before she realized it was his mouth. Her fingers quickly wound their way through his hair, urging him to keep going. Kakashi moaned as he continued sucking at her breast, nipping at the hardened peak before his tongue laved soothingly over her skin.

Sakura moaned in protest when he released her nipple and again as his mouth began pressing scorching kisses along her collarbone, working further up to her neck. "We should stop," he rasped, even as his hands returned to force her hips down faster into his.

"Why?" she gasped, tugging impatiently at his shirt. She wanted to feel more of his warm skin, run her hands along the smooth, corded muscles of his back.

Kakashi didn't answer her right away; he couldn't, not when he was busy placing hot, hard kisses to her mouth and jaw. He only paused just long enough for her to pull his shirt off completely and then he was back to kissing her. Her next gasp was brought on by the shocking feel of his skin meeting hers, the sound smothered against his lips and tongue. She circled her arms around him until her hands were groping across his wide shoulders. It was amazing to feel his muscles shifting beneath the softness of his skin, to feel the tension in his body as he continued kissing her senseless.

He pulled away again, shaking his head quickly. "No," he muttered, his words brushing warmly across her mouth. "It's too fast. There's too much at risk…" His words trailed off as she gave a slow, purposeful grind against his erection.

"Stop thinking," she ordered, placing little kisses to his lips. "Just go with it."

"We really shouldn't."

"Kakashi, please … let go. Just this once. I … I want this."

Whether it was her plea or the way she was rubbing her breasts against his chest, she didn't know, but suddenly his arms were wrapping around her tightly as he surged to his feet. Her legs quickly locked around his waist, her arms around his neck as he took her from the living room and down the hall toward his bedroom. The entire way, their mouths were fused together, their tongues tangling in a heated kiss that left little room for breathing.

He fumbled a little to open the door without having to set her down and there was some tripping as he carried her toward the bed. Sakura's back hit the mattress hard and he followed her down, covering her body with his. His hands were everywhere, groping almost blindly at her thighs, her rear, moving higher so that he could pinch her nipples between his fingers. Her moans were coming more steadily through her ragged breaths, one leg hooking around his hips as she bucked to meet each roll of his body against hers.

And then he was rolling them over so that she was on top, his hands dipping impatiently beneath her shorts to knead her bare behind. She helped in peeling the irritating garment down her legs before reaching between them for the fly of his pants.

"Wait," Kakashi cut in quickly, grabbing her hands just as she was about to shove them down the open from of his pants. He was breathing hard and she could just make out the thin sheen of sweat over his pale skin in the light coming from the open door.

"What?" she demanded, impatience creeping into her voice. If he was about to spout off yet another reason why they shouldn't do this, she was going to bludgeon him with her fists before continuing her exploration of his comatose form.

Fortunately, putting an end to their activities wasn't what he had in mind. "Condoms," he panted. "I don't have any."

Sakura blinked in confusion before smiling as she leaned down to kiss his lips sweetly. "It's fine," she whispered, flicking her tongue along his lower lip teasingly. With her hands resting against his groin, she could feel his erection twitch in response. "I'm taking birth control – have been for a while. We're fine."

"No … that's not why we need them."

She sat upright and the movement caused her to sink down more firmly against his hips. Her eyes closed and she shuddered when her fingers brushed against her exposed sex, feeling the wet heat of her body. It took a lot of willpower not to just slip her fingers lower and touch that throbbing, needy part of her, the one that was just aching for fulfillment. Slowly, she took a steadying breath and asked, "Why else would we need condoms?"

It was fairly dark in his room, but there was just enough light for her to see his cheeks darken in embarrassment. In answer to her question, Kakashi took one of her hands and steered it down the front of his pants. Her eyes widened as her palm slid over his penis, taking in the surprising length and width of him. He was hot in her hand, almost scorchingly so, and when she boldly dipped her hand beneath the band of his underwear she was amazed to encounter moisture pearling thickly at the blunted tip.

Sakura understood then why he wanted a condom; he was afraid that without something to desensitize the sensation of them having sex that he wouldn't last long. She was barely touching him as it is, yet his entire body was quaking as if it was already too much.

She pulled her hand free, caressing along the muscled expanse of his abdomen until her fingers grazed over his flat nipples. His body jerked beneath her, his jaw tightening as he choked back a harsh, pleasured sound. Sakura leaned down over him again, skimming her lips across his sternum slowly. Her tongue flicked out every so often, wetting his skin and drawing steady, ragged moans from him. By the time she reached his neck, his hips were lifting in shallow thrusts against hers and his hands were sliding up her thighs eagerly.

Her lips found his earlobe and gave it a brief suck before repeating, "It's fine."

His hands and mouth were suddenly everywhere, kissing and touching any part of her he came into contact with. Sakura was too overwhelmed to do more than respond, to simply let her body move the way it wanted. She felt his fingers pressing into her hips and drew back from sucking the pulse point on his throat when he tried to lift her higher up his body. There was no fighting the pressure of his hands, so she had no choice but to follow his lead.

It became clear what he intended when her pelvis was poised over his chest and he was still shifting her higher. Sakura's eyes widened and she immediately grabbed hold of his wrists to stop him. "Wait," she gasped, feeling incredibly uncomfortable with what he meant to do. "Wait, Kakashi … ah!"

Any thoughts of protest or morality died the minute he sealed his mouth to her core, his tongue delving hotly between her folds. Part of her was horrified at what he was doing – at what she was _letting_ him do to her. She wasn't so naïve that she didn't know what oral sex was, but she'd never considered it for herself … and certainly _not_ like this. But the other part of her couldn't deny the pleasure his lips and tongue produced. She couldn't keep her hips from grinding against his mouth or her hands from burying in his hair to pull him closer.

His tongue continued its assault, alternating between quick, hard flicks over her clitoris and long, sweeping strokes down the length of her slit. When his tongue plunged inside her, she cried out sharply, her fingers pulling roughly at his hair. He kept going, his hands encouraging her hips to grind faster against his mouth. Sakura's eyes were closed, her head thrown back as gasps and broken cries fell unchecked from her lips. Inside, it felt like she was being consumed by need. She felt it burning through her veins, pooling hotly between her legs, stoking higher with each pass of his tongue and teeth against her sex.

And then it burst inside her, slamming through her so fast and hard that everything else fell away. For a few blissful seconds, her entire world consisted of nothing more than his mouth between her legs and passion unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. It seemed to permeate her entire being: her skin, her muscles, the ends of her hair. Even as the high began to fade, leaving her dizzy and satisfied in a way she couldn't begin to explain, her body continued to twitch in response to such overwhelming desire.

She was still reeling from her first orgasm ever as Kakashi maneuvered her back to her former position. Her cheek rested against his shoulder as she relearned how to breathe, his fingers combing gently through her sweat dampened hair. She could feel his length through the open front of his pants, causing her to shiver as it rubbed against her overly sensitized flesh. His lips brushed light kisses across her bare shoulder as he waited for her to regain a portion of her composure.

When she finally had the breath to speak, the only thing she could say was, "Wow."

She felt more than heard him chuckle as he nuzzled the side of her throat. "I'll take that to mean you liked it?" he teased, trailing his fingers up and down her spine soothingly.

Sakura pushed herself upright just enough to give him a lazy, contented kiss, one that tasted musky with a touch of sweetness. It took her a moment to realize she tasted herself on his tongue, and it didn't bother her as much as she would have imagined. If anything, it sent desire pulsing warmly between her legs again. That pulse escalated into full on need when she felt his fingers slip between their bodies to slide easily through her slick folds.

"You're so wet," he murmured, dipping his fingers lower to press against her entrance. She moaned and tried to angle her hips to take more than just his fingertips, but he withdrew completely. The protesting cry had barely left her when she felt something much hotter and wider than his fingers pushing between her folds.

She gasped, her nails digging into his shoulders as buried her face against the curve of his neck and shoulder. Kakashi gave another careful, shallow thrust, pushing deeper inside her. Another lift of his hips and he slid in just a bit further. Her lower lip was caught firmly between her teeth as an uncomfortable stinging sensation began to cut through the pleasure. It didn't hurt, not like she'd heard it could, but it didn't feel great either. She held on tight to him as he panted and groaned against her shoulder, his skin growing slick beneath her fingers, and hoped the pleasure from before would return.

When he was finally as deep inside her as he could go, Kakashi fell back against the mattress with a harsh gasp, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he struggled to keep from moving just yet. It felt strange having him inside her, feeling every twitch and throb of his penis. She still wasn't sure if it was a good sort of strange yet, but the longer they remained still the less uncomfortable it became. Soon enough, the hot, heavy press of him against her muscles made her squirm, which in turn drew out a surprised gasp as the pleasure started unfurling through her again.

Kakashi's breath escaped as a hissing sound as his fingers dug almost painfully into her hips. "Don't … don't move. Not unless you're ready," he advised, his features clearly showing the strain of trying to keep himself in check.

Experimentally, Sakura rolled her hips in the barest of movements, shivering as the base of his erection rubbed against her clitoris. Her eyes fell closed as she repeated the movement again, her lips parting in a silent gasp when he rose to meet her. "I-It's good," she panted, speaking with her lips pressed to his wildly pounding pulse. "Keep going, just … don't rush."

He groaned and wrapped his arms around her, pinning her firmly to his chest. "I'll try not to."

Their hips continued moving in slow, shallow circles that gradually became a little faster and harder as the need began to take hold again. At the direction of his hands, Sakura sat upright and moaned lowly as the slight change in position made him slip deeper inside her, hitting a spot that made white lights dance across her vision. She could hear the sound of their bodies meeting over his quiet groans and her breathier gasps, and it only grew louder the harder she bore down on him. His hands skimmed up her ribs again to cover her bouncing breasts, his fingers plucking at her nipples in such a way that she could actually feel a corresponding tug between her legs.

Her hands were braced on his slick chest, her nails scratching lightly across the dusting of course hair and soft skin. The hot, coiling sensation was starting up again in her stomach, only it was a little different this time. It was more intense, driving her to move faster, create more friction between them. He was penetrating her easily now, aided by her loosened muscles and the natural lubrication of her sex. His hips were bucking up hard into hers, such that she almost didn't need to move at all.

This time, there was very little warning. One minute, their eyes locked as their hands met, and the next her back was snapping ridged as she cried his name. The pleasure exploded within her, eclipsing the previous orgasm completely. She couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe as her muscles contracted sharply, milking along the hot length of him in a violent, wordless demand. It lasted far longer than the first one, left her body feeling sore but in a very good way.

Kakashi gave one final thrust before his back arched off the mattress, his eyes squeezing tightly closed as a strangled cry managed to work its way passed his clenched teeth. She cried out again as he filled her, his seed spurting hotly into her body as he ground her hips roughly into his. Somewhere in the grunts and moans, she thought she heard her name repeated a couple times as his fingers tightened painfully around hers.

She fell against him, exhausted and aching between her legs. He slipped free of her, his limp member resting on her thigh as his hands ran in lazy caresses over her body. Sakura hummed blissfully, nuzzling his throat and shivering as the stubble of his cheeks scraped along her skin. Her lips sought his again for another kiss, though it wasn't a kiss as much as it was grazing lips and mingled, panting breaths.

Slowly, he rolled her onto her side so that he could tug the blankets over their naked bodies. Sakura smiled hazily at him, tracing her fingers along his features tenderly. This was normally the part in romance novels where the couple shared a deep, meaningful discussion and shared their feelings. Maybe it was weird of her, but she didn't feel like doing any of that. There was no need to, not when she could tell by the way he was touching her how he felt. He continued watching her, his eyes sweeping over her slowly. The sharingan was still open, taking in every nuance of movement. He was memorizing her in this moment, and the realization of that made her chest tight with affection.

"Thank you," he murmured, his thumb running over the curve of her lower lip.

Her brow pinched as she shook her head. "For what?"

"For not letting me talk myself out of this."

Sakura smiled and snuggled closer to him, hooking one leg over his thigh. "Anytime."

The last thing she heard before sleep overcame her was his quiet laughter as he placed a kiss to her cheek.

* * *

Sai was sitting in the small room of his new home with a marker in hand and a blank canvas before him. It'd remained untouched for the last three hours. He'd capped and uncapped the colors several times, but the art simply wouldn't come. He couldn't bring his hand to mar the smooth, pale surface of the canvas tonight.

Perhaps he was wrong and this wasn't a night for markers? His gaze fell to the sealed ink pots arranged on his desk.

He wasn't confused. He knew what he needed to do.

His hand reached for a calligraphy brush anyway.

The smell of the dark, raw ink was strong in his nose, acrid in a way that was completely unique to it. Certain smells had no comparison: freshly cut grass, leaves in the autumn, smoke. They were all singular scents, just like ink.

And death.

Sai's hand fumbled, sloshing thick, black ink out of the jar and onto his hand. He frowned at it and reached for the rag draped over the back of his chair. He stopped when his gaze fell on the droplets that had splattered onto the wooden floor of his home, staining deeply into the wood. They resembled blood drops when seen under a dark sky.

He stared at his blackened fingers again, watched as the substance rolled down his bare arm, dripped from his fingertips. His grip on the brush changed. It was subtle, but he was no longer holding it like an artist; he was holding it like a shinobi, as if the tool were a kunai.

The sound of the brush clattering to the ground was uncommonly loud in his ears. As was the thud of his stool toppling over as he stood quickly.

Sai backed away from the canvas slowly, his chest rising and falling swiftly. His heart was thudding and his hands quaked with a sudden rush of adrenaline. Very slowly, he approached the mess again, his bare feet soundless on the floorboards. The ink on his hand was congealing, though a stray droplet still managed to plummet from his fingertips, marking his movement across the floor.

He stared down at the upturned bottle, its contents oozing and pooling on the wood, seeping into the cracks and sticking in the grooves. It was surprisingly warm as it met his tools, though not nearly as warm as blood.

Gingerly, he bent down and lifted the glass bottle from the spill and was dismayed to find that it was empty. There was barely enough ink inside to paint one stroke with. All of it was on the floor and undoubtedly dripping into the apartment beneath his. Without the ink, it was just an unremarkable glass container, resembling those that stored baby food. It didn't serve a purpose any longer. He should throw it away.

He placed it back in its original spot, empty though it was.

Sai was just about to clean up the mess when a soft knock came to his window. He looked up, saw a masked face, and went over to open it a crack.

"It's time," the messenger said before pushing off the window ledge and disappearing into the night.

He closed the window and stared out into the shadows at the village he was sworn to protect. Half formed buildings stood amidst completed ones and lingering rubble and only a handful of people dared to have lights on after dusk. There used to be a time where hundreds of windows used to glow like lightning bugs at night. It was his duty, as a ninja of Konoha, to make that happen again.

Sai stepped away from the window, retrieved his shirt from the futon mattress on the floor and headed for the door. On the way, he took a kunai from his weapons pouch and tucked it into the bindings on his leg.

* * *

It was still rather early in the morning when Kakashi woke to the feeling of warm, lush skin beneath his hands. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of sex that lingered in the air, and buried his face into the bend of her shoulder. His arm tightened around her waist as she murmured sleepily, her rear wiggling more comfortably into his lap. He felt his cock twitch with interest and let his hand move lower.

She shifted again when his fingers slid through the soft, pink curls of her mound, but she didn't wake. He smiled as he placed a chaste kiss to her shoulder and let his fingers wander further downward. Her slit was still slick from their previous activity, a combination of her fluids and his. When he paused to rub a fingertip along her clit, she gasped breathlessly, her eyes cracking open the barest amount.

"Pervert," she mumbled, even as she lifted her leg to give him better access. "Can't even wait until I'm a … awake."

Kakashi laughed softly as he continued stroking over the tight nub of her sex. "You were taking too long," he replied, nipping at her earlobe playfully.

Sakura hummed sleepily, one hand reaching back to curl through his hair as her hips began to rock with the slow, steady rhythm of his fingers. He closed his eyes, savoring the way she responded to him, the way her breaths became more like sighs with each circular motion of his fingers. His lips brushed across her shoulder again as he pressed his growing erection more fervently to her bare rear.

She twisted about just enough to see him, putting her lips temptingly close to his and exposing one pert breast to the cool air. "Are we going to do it like this?" she asked softly, her words fanning across his mouth.

"We can if you want to," he said, slipping one finger inside her tight, wet sheath. She gasped and arched her back away from his chest.

He kept the slow, lazy rhythm going, pumping first one and then two fingers into the welcoming heat of her body. She moved in time to his thrusting digits, sweet little moans mingling with each breath. Watching her respond to him, how hot and wet she was, feeling her muscles clench around his fingers … it was mesmerizing. He couldn't recall ever having a partner react so openly to his touches. It wasn't in her nature to hold back, a trait he was glad to see extended into the bedroom as well.

Her eyes opened languidly and when she rolled over onto her back, Kakashi followed her, settling himself between her spread legs. Sakura smiled up at him, brushed a hand down his cheek in a gentle caress before leaning upward to kiss him. "It's my turn to watch you," she whispered against his mouth, all while reaching between them to guide his cock toward her entrance.

Kakashi groaned and, slipping an arm around the small of her back to angle her hips better, he pushed forward into her.

A knock sounded on the door separating his office from his living room.

He froze, looking back over his shoulder. Who would be here this early in the morning?

Sakura's cool, slim hand curved around his chin, drawing his attention back to her. "Ignore it," she said, one leg lifting around his waist to pull him tighter to her.

"Good idea," he agreed before claiming her lips in a deep, penetrating kiss, the thrusting of his tongue matching that of his cock between her legs.

The knock came again, this time much louder. Sakura locked both legs around his waist and gasped at the shift in angle. He choked on his next breath as her body fluttered around him. Whoever it was could just come back later.

He was just starting to pick up speed when the worst possible thing happened: the door in the other room opened and someone called out, "Hokage-sama?"

"Shit!" he hissed. He was off of Sakura in the next second, ignoring her horrified gasp as he quickly shut the bedroom door.

The footsteps in the living room paused and the voice inquired again, "Hokage-sama? Are you awake?"

Kakashi made a mental note to fire whoever was out there and called back gruffly, "I am now. What do you want?"

"A message just arrived from Danzou-sama. He wants to meet you at the Council chamber as soon as possible to discuss a potential compromise."

He met Sakura's gaze across the room and saw the surprise he felt mirrored on her face. As unprecedented as the message was, it was still too early for business in his opinion. Of course, that opinion was greatly helped by the sight of Sakura hugging a sheet to her breasts … but he would dare any man not to be swayed by such an argument. His body wanted nothing more than to climb back in that bed and finish what they'd started.

There was one small problem, however: his sense of duty. If Danzou wanted to discuss a compromise of positions, he was obligated to listen.

Kakashi groaned and spread his hands helplessly. "I have to go," he said.

Sakura nodded and fought not to look too crestfallen. "No, that's okay. Go take care of that and then come back. I'll have breakfast ready for you."

He offered a wry smile and asked hopefully, "I don't suppose it can be breakfast in bed, can it?"

She snorted and rolled her eyes, but there was a smile playing on her lips that said she was amused. "That depends on how quickly you settle this thing. If there's time before our first appointment … sure."

"Trust me, there'll be time," he promised as he made his way to the bathroom for a quick, cold splash in the shower. It wasn't at all how he'd wanted to start his morning, but it'd have to do. He couldn't very well walk into a meeting with a tent in his pants, now could he?

By the time he was out and toweling himself off, Sakura had stolen yet another of his shirts to parade around in as she remade the bed. He didn't know why she bothered when they were just going to mess it up again, but he let her do it. Kakashi finished getting ready and was about to leave when he realized he was forgetting something. He turned back toward Sakura, who was already on her way over to him.

"I was going to say," she muttered as she met him halfway, her arms circling his neck to pull him down into a deep, lingering kiss.

Kakashi pulled away reluctantly, unwilling to leave just yet. Maybe it was just the fact that he wanted to savor her to himself for just a little longer, but the urge to send a message back asking to reschedule was strong. He knew he couldn't do it though. If he blew Danzou off now, there was the very real chance he'd never get this chance for diplomacy again.

Pressing another kiss to her lips, Kakashi turned and left the room without looking back.

An ANBU guard was waiting in the living room, one whose mask he didn't recognize. He frowned as he pulled on his leather gloves and said, "Where's Miko? I thought she was on duty today."

"Miko-san is unfortunately sick this morning, Hokage-sama," the man replied. "My name is Esu and I'll be serving in her place."

Strange, she'd seemed alright yesterday morning. Maybe she just ate something that didn't agree with her. He seemed to recall she had a rather sensitive stomach. Motioning toward the door, he said, "After you, Esu."

The guard led the way, and three others he didn't know fell in around him. Kakashi arched a curious brow as he looked the new arrivals over curiously. "Your squad, I take it?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. As I'm not familiar with Miko-san's squad, I thought it'd be best to enlist my own," Esu confirmed.

For some reason, his very logical response triggered an alarm bell in Kakashi's head. It was completely unfounded and he couldn't begin to explain why … but his gut told him something wasn't quite right. He debated about going back to grab a few weapons, but decided against it seeing as the meeting was being held in the Council chamber. It would be in extremely poor taste to bring weapons into a place where they were prohibited. Besides, he doubted Danzou would be foolish enough to attempt anything right now.

They walked quickly through the chillness of the early morning air. Only a few people were up at this hour, those mostly being construction workers getting ready for yet another long day of repairs. They bowed to him as he passed, murmuring polite greetings as they stepped to one side. He always made certain to respond cheerfully, sometimes stopping to talk to the ones he knew by name. It was good for morale to have the Hokage on friendly terms with the people, not to mention it gave him the chance to know the ones responsible for rebuilding Konoha. This was a tremendous thing they were undertaking, after all.

Kakashi followed his escort into the administration building and looked about curiously when he saw that it was completely empty. If this were a full Council meeting, then there should have been at least a few assistants walking about. Once again, a warning went off in his head. He continued on anyway, though he kept his hands ready should he need them. Weapons weren't the only way of defending one' self if necessary.

Esu and his guard stopped outside the meeting hall, taking up posts on the opposite wall to the four masked ROOT guards that were already standing at attention. "Danzou-sama is inside," one of the guards informed him gruffly. "He's waiting for you."

He nodded slowly, eying the closed doors thoughtfully. They were large, heavy, and pushed inward. Across from them were the only windows in the room: four of them, all facing away from the village. While the room was fairly spacious for meeting purposes, the table took up a lot of space for maneuvering.

But it was absurd to be thinking in terms of escape routes, he chided himself. This was just a meeting, nothing more. If Danzou was plotting to make some kind of power bid, he would do so when the Elders and Council were present to bear witness. He wouldn't bother staging a fake meeting.

As Kakashi pushed open the doors and was confronted with row upon row of porcelain masks, he realized he was mistaken. The doors slammed closed behind him and he only had a split second to tear the hitae-ate from over his sharingan before the fight began.

* * *

Sakura wandered into the small kitchen of Kakashi's house, wearing nothing except his oversized shirt and a smile. While she was disappointed that he'd had to leave, she knew it was something she had to get used to with him. He was the Hokage; things would undoubtedly come up at inopportune times. She had to accept that sometimes his duty would have to come before her.

Although, she had a feeling that Kakashi would definitely try not to let that happen.

Ignoring the pull of sore muscles in her lower stomach, she began getting things around to make a nice breakfast for his return. There would be coffee, of course. And maybe a simple egg omelet to eat. She wished he liked sweet stuff; she made really delicious pancakes, if she said so herself. Maybe she'd make it anyway, just to see if he—

She jumped when something dark and heavy slammed into the window just over the sink. Sakura frowned and, with her heart in her throat, grabbed one of the kitchen knives before cautiously stepping out the back door. The ANBU that normally watched the door was now squatting to one side, peering at something on the ground. Peering over the man's shoulder, she gasped in surprise at what she saw.

A dead crow. Its ink black feathers ruffled in the light morning breeze, but its beady black eye was dull and its head was bent at an unnaturally angle.

"Poor thing," the guard murmured. "Its neck snapped when it hit the window."

Sakura turned and looked in the direction of the village. A wave of anxiety washed over her from out of nowhere. Taking a deep breath, she brushed it off and went back inside. She wanted to get as much prep done now so that when Kakashi returned she could have breakfast ready quickly.

* * *

There were too many of them. If they'd been typical jounin or below, he wouldn't have a problem taking them down. But twenty plus elite operatives, all armed to the teeth? Not even on a good day.

They'd done their homework too, he was dismayed to note as he barely dodged a kunai meant for his midsection. Rather than come at him one by one, they rushed him in groups, coming at him from different sides and without any predictable pattern. As soon as he thought he had a moment to whip out a ninjutsu, another team would move in and he'd be forced to protect himself from their attack. They were quick, well organized … and if he didn't get out of there somehow, he was a dead man.

A few had managed to inflict some damage on him. One had sliced his chest pretty good. Another got a well placed kick in on his hip, which had sent him falling to the ground just in time to catch a shuriken to the shoulder. Blood and sweat slipped down his skin as he continued fighting, grabbing weapons from this he was fortunate enough to incapacitate and using them in hopes of buying himself just a few seconds. All he needed was five seconds to activate a transportation jutsu and he'd out of there. His chakra levels were low, what with being forced to use the Mangekyo technique twice in quick succession, and he'd be lucky if he had enough for it … but he didn't have a choice.

Kakashi hissed in pain at the familiar thunk of a throwing kunai hitting right between his shoulder blades. He stumbled, tripping over a fallen body, and it was only by the grace of his speed that he was able to jerk the blade from his back before hitting the ground. He flung it back at its owner and watched in satisfaction as blood erupted from the bastard's throat. But his momentary victory was short lived when the room began to spin sickeningly.

The kunai had been poisoned.

He struggled to his feet, swaying unsteadily as his vision became nothing but a blur of white and red, the masks all running together so that he couldn't pick out the different animals. Wetness slipped from between his lips, too thin to be blood, and he realized dimly that it was drool; the poison was cutting off body function. If he didn't get out now, he would be a sitting duck.

His hands came together clumsily for the first seal. Blood erupted from his hand as a shuriken seemed to appear from out of nowhere. He made the second seal, catching himself when his knees nearly gave out. One of the hazy masked faces approached and drove a kunai into his gut. The blade withdrew and was replaced by another one to his back.

Dimly, he was aware of metal flashing in the light coming from the windows: more kunai. The idea that he wasn't going to make it out of there became very real all of a sudden.

It wasn't his life that flashed before his eyes; it was Sakura. Her smile, the way she looked at him, their night together … every single memory he had of her came to sharp focus as his enemies rushed toward him en masse.

He couldn't die. Not now. Not when he hadn't even told her that he…

A surge of adrenaline burst over him, and Kakashi snarled in defiance as he tore the weapons piercing him from his body. The shuriken caught someone in the windpipe, a kunai sliced through someone's midsection, spilling intestines and blood across the slick floor. One by one, they fell around him as he fought the poison working through his system and his own exhaustion. The pain meant nothing, not when compared to never seeing Sakura again.

The ROOT forces were falling back, taken off guard by the sudden burst of aggression from him. Some still came forward to fight, throwing their lives away just to keep him from escaping. In the back of his mind, Kakashi knew there was a reason why they didn't want him escaping. Any number of the injuries he'd suffered so far could be fatal, and there was a very good chance he wouldn't survive the utter depletion of his chakra were he to use a transport jutsu. But he was so focused on driving off his attackers that it hardly crossed his mind.

And then he came face to face with Danzou … whose unbandaged face showed a gaping hole where his eye had been.

That was when Kakashi realized that all this time, not a single person had even attempted to take out his sharingan. It was while this revelation was crashing down on him that Fu removed his mask and drove a kunai directly into his lungs.

Kakashi's eyes widened and his next breath was choked due to the blood filling his throat.

Torune appeared out of nowhere. The kunai in his hand was buried in his kidney.

All around him, masks were removed as his attackers allowed him to see their faces, the sharingan cataloguing every last one. They were making certain they were the last things he saw. He fell to one knee, struggling to breathe through the blood pouring freely from his mouth. The pain was so constant now that he barely registered each new slide of metal into his body.

Finally, there was one masked face left. Kakashi could barely keep his eyes open, could barely bring himself to look at his last murderer. Warmth slipped down his cheeks, cutting through the blood coating his cheeks, as he realized this was it. He wasn't going to die in some foreign land, killed by a ninja he knew by reputation only.

He was going to die in his own village at the hands of people he knew, had worked with – had socialized with on occasion.

The last mask fell away, shattering as it impacted with the ground. Kakashi looked up … and defeat crushed him completely when he beheld yet another familiar face. "You too, huh?" he mumbled thickly.

Sai's features were devoid of emotion, but there was no disguising the thread of fear lurking in his dark eyes. His hand was trembling as he gripped the kunai, and for a long moment he simply stood there. And then his hand went back and the kunai was flashing forward.

The very last thing to cross Kakashi's mind as he fell to the meeting room floor was that he hadn't looked back.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Now let it work._********_ Mischief, thou art afoot_**

* * *

Sakura tossed the action plan she and Kakashi had spent a good portion of last night finalizing back onto the table. She glanced at the clock and frowned. He'd been gone for almost three hours. He was due in the office in about thirty minutes.

While it wasn't at all unexpected that he was running late, surely he should have been back by now. Even if things were going well (which she doubted, seeing as it was Danzou) he would have been anxious to get back as soon as possible. She had pancake batter in the fridge, just waiting to be made. Even if they didn't have time for a bit of fun before work, he certainly wouldn't miss a home cooked breakfast.

In an effort to be productive (as well as clear up more time for this evening) she'd decided to try and go through the aid proposal one more time in order to find any lingering holes. The less work he had to do later, the more time she got with him. It was purely selfish motives … but she didn't care. She was allowed to be selfish when it came to the man she loved.

Sighing dreamily as she recalled the night before, Sakura was just about to take a sip of tea when someone knocked on the door. Frowning in confusion, she stood up and went to answer it.

Her brow furrowed when she was confronted with a white frog mask. "May I help you?" she asked cautiously, trying to discern whether the man was ROOT or ANBU.

"Pardon me, Haruno-san, but your presence has been requested," the man replied, speaking in a polite, neutral tone.

"Is everything alright?" she pressed, her stomach knotting worriedly.

"Everything is as it should be, as far as I know. My orders were to escort you to the Council chamber immediately."

Sakura nodded slowly and said, "Okay. Let me … get my things."

* * *

"What's the final count?" Danzou demanded as he stared down at the body of Hatake Kakashi – or, more accurately, his sightless sharingan. The decision to claim it had been a last minute one. Since he had unfortunately lost his in the battle with Uchiha Sasuke, it only made sense to replace it. Waste not, want not. He would wait until the room cleared a bit before having it removed and implanted into his own face.

"Of the forty operatives assigned, eleven are seriously injured. Four of those are critically so, "Torune reported gravely. "Another eight suffered minor to intermediate damage while another fourteen are dead."

"So, thirty-three of our best are either injured or dead." Danzou arched a brow and smirked. "And you said forty operatives was excessive force."

The younger man cringed. "I … shouldn't have questioned you, Danzou-sama."

He held up a hand, staving off the apology. "Were it anyone other than Hatake Kakashi, you would have been correct. But the man was probably the best ninja among us and he certainly proved it today. Has Haruno Sakura been summoned?"

"Yes, sir. Mifune went to retrieve her. He should be back soon."

"Good. You and the others continue cleaning up here. This will be difficult enough on her as it is." It was standard practice when staging a coup to eliminate all who were close to the opposition; however it seemed an unnecessary waste this time around. Haruno Sakura was a very talented medic. Someone with her skills would be a valuable asset.

And if she proved to be difficult … she was just one girl. A chuunin. The remainder of his men could handle her without any trouble.

Torune bowed and went back to assisting with the cleanup process.

Danzou released a heavy breath and moved off toward the opposite end of the room where Sai was busy staring fixedly out the window. He hadn't said a word since arriving in the Council chamber, not before or after the battle. As soon as he'd delivered the final blow, the kunai had dropped from his hand and he'd turned away from the scene.

He came to stand next to the younger man, staring out into the forest that still surrounded the old village site. "I know this must have been very difficult for you," he said quietly. "You were closer to him than anyone else."

"I had considered him a friend," Sai replied, his voice cracking roughly as he struggled to keep the emotion from showing through.

"And that's as it should be. No one here acted out of malice toward Kakashi as a person. We did what we had to for the sake of the village."

Sai's head bowed, his eyes closing tightly. "A ninja's duty is to his village," he recited as his hands curled into tight fists.

"Precisely," Danzou agreed. "You did your duty today, Sai. You are the hero of Konoha."

The only answer he received was silence. Sighing again, Danzou placed his hand on Sai's shoulder in a rare moment of consolation. "I'll leave you to grieve for you friend in peace."

He had just taken a seat in his customary chair when a raucous came from outside the doors. Danzou recognized the strident tones of Haruno Sakura and nodded in answer to Fu's unasked question.

Fu bowed and opened the doors, admitting a very irate looking young woman and sorely abused Mifune. Sakura's eyes narrowed when she saw him and her voice became positively icy as she spat out, "_You!_ You summoned me? Where's Kakashi?"

"I regretfully must inform you that Hatake Kakashi is dead," he replied without any preamble. He heard shoes shifting on the hard floor behind him and knew that Sai had finally rejoined the conversation.

Sakura's eyes darted around warily as the ROOT members began fanning out, preparing for a possible attack. "I don't believe you," she ground out fiercely.

Danzou locked gazes with Torune and nodded. The other man walked across the floor toward the cloth covered body she'd failed to notice upon entering. He pulled the sheet back, revealing the blood splattered face of the former co-Hokage.

To her credit, she didn't react like a normal woman would have. She didn't wail and tear her hair out as if life had no meaning. She didn't faint or run from the room with nausea. Instead, her face turned ashen and her lips trembled as if the words simply wouldn't come. Sakura gave the barest of head shakes and her eyes were bright with tears as she slowly made her way over to the corpse. Torune stepped back respectfully, though he kept a hand ready should he need a weapon.

"No."

The word was whispered so low that if everyone hadn't been cued in to her at that moment it would have been missed.

She fell to her knees, tears slipping freely down her cheeks as she reached out, her hand shaking unsteadily, and pressed her fingers to his neck. Her hand withdrew sharply at the lack of pulse and a choked sob broke from her. "No."

As much as he was a battle hardened shinobi, Danzou wasn't so completely heartless that the sight of a grieving woman didn't still move him.

Sakura moaned brokenly and reached for him once again, this time with hands that were steadier and glowing faintly. She was trying to heal the body, he realized, watching as she channeled chakra into the pallid skin of Kakashi's throat. Nothing happened. Her shoulders began to shake as she continued wasting her chakra on trying to revive that which had already passed.

"No. No, no, no … damn it, _NO!__"_

Her scream reverberated sharply in the room as she collapsed against the body, muffling her sobs against his chest. No one approached her as she continued to scream and clutch at the body of her team leader – no one except for Sai.

Torune moved as if to stop him, but one gesture from Danzou prevented him from doing so. In moments like this, emotion was perfectly acceptable. Sai was grieving for Kakashi, too.

"Sakura," the young man said softly, placing a hand to her shoulder.

She jerked away from the touch angrily.

"Sakura, please."

This time when he touched her, she turned on him with a snarl and a fierce glare – one that died the minute she saw his hands were covered in blood. With a scream that made even Danzou's hackles rise, she threw herself at Sai, taking him unawares and tackling him violently to the ground.

Immediately, Torune and the other surviving ROOT members were on her, fighting to pry her off before she could cause any real damage. She fought them all, her movements wild and born out of a rage like none he had ever seen before. Five more ROOT came rushing in to help subdue her, and even then the only reason they succeeded was because she was too overcome with grief to continue fighting. Danzou was rather dismayed to see that four more bodies now littered the ground, all of them with oddly deformed chest cavities. Apparently, Tsunade had taught her a lot more than just medical jutsu.

"Release her," he ordered sharply and it was only due to years of service that they obeyed him without question. He had seen these sorts of outbursts before, enough so that he recognized when the grieving party was beyond the point of fighting any longer. Physically, she was still a threat, but without the mentality to back it up she might as well have been a civilian.

The guards backed off, Mifune reaching down to give Sai a hand up. The younger man winced sharply as he stood, pressing a hand to his ribs in pain. But Danzou paid it very little mind; his entire focus was on the girl dragging herself back to the side of her fallen team leader. As he watched her cradle Kakashi's head, her fingers smoothing gently through his matted hair as her tears fell upon his still features, it occurred to him that her actions were far too tender for a teammate.

His eyebrows rose in shock as he realized the exact nature of her relationship with Kakashi. Closing his eye, he bowed his head and murmured, "My sincerest condolences, Sakura. Had I known he was your lover, I wouldn't have asked you here."

Several heads snapped up at that, Sai's included.

Sakura lifted her gaze enough to glare at him. The hatred in her green eyes was too eerily reminiscent of the sort he'd seen in another's face: Uchiha Sasuke. Unlike the last Uchiha, however, he was confident in the fact that she posed little to no serious menace.

"Why?" she demanded, her voice hoarse from all the screams and tears.

Danzou met her stare evenly and asked, "Would you believe me if I told you it was for the greater good of the village?"

"No."

He looked from her to Sai, silently ordering him to try and convince her of this truth.

Sai hesitated before approaching her once again. Unlike the last time, he didn't dare try to touch her and he kept just enough distance that, should he need to, he could dodge her fists. "Sakura … please, listen to me," he began softly. "What Danzou says is the truth. Kakashi-san is – _was_ an inspirational man."

"And yet his blood is on your hands," she retorted bitterly.

"It is. But what I did wasn't easy for me. I … genuinely liked Kakashi-san, Sakura. He was a good team leader, someone to depend on. But his plans for Konoha were dangerous. Many people tried to convince him of that. His proposal for allowing rival villages to assist in our rebuilding would have posed a serious threat to our people. I understand that he was only trying to help … but when one stubbornly refuses to see the flaws, then one becomes a liability. We acted in the best interest of Konoha, as any ninja would. I am asking you, as a kunoichi of this village, to understand that we had to do this. It was our _duty_."

For a long time, all she did was stare at him, her eyes puffy and red from shedding so many tears. She looked down at the man whose cheek she was stroking and murmured numbly, "I understand."

Danzou released a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding and added solemnly, "I want you to know we do not plan to keep our actions a secret from the people. They deserve to know, just as Kakashi deserves to have the finest burial Konoha has ever seen."

Sakura nodded once as she continued tracing his features gently. "If I may, I'd like to say a few words in his memory."

A cold thread of suspicion slipped down his spine at her request, but before he could deny it Sai said, "Yes."

"Of course," Danzou quickly agreed, shooting his subordinate a quelling look. "But under two conditions. First, you are not to use Kakashi's funeral to speak ill of us. Second, you will speak _after_ our representative."

"And who will that be?" she asked, casting a contemptuous look around those assembled. "Only friends should speak for those that have died."

Danzou looked pointedly at Sai. The young man blinked in surprised and said, "Me?"

"I can think of no one more suited for the task," he replied. "You were on his team, Sai. And everyone knows that Kakashi's team was like his family. It would be best coming from someone he regarded so dearly."

Sai's brow furrowed briefly, but he didn't argue. "As you wish, Danzou-sama."

"When do you plan to do this?" Sakura questioned, her voice a little stronger than before.

"This very day. I want Konoha to know immediately what has happened," Danzou answered.

She nodded and very slowly pushed herself upright. Her feet stumbled a little, but she kept from falling. All eyes were on her as she left the room dazedly, her eyes still dull with shock and grief. Danzou waited until she cleared the doorway before nodding toward Torune and Fu. "Keep an eye on her. Do nothing unless she causes trouble."

Without a word, both men followed after Sakura.

"Send word to the senior jounin that their presence is required in one hour. I don't want to give her enough time to plan something," he ordered.

* * *

Shikaku nodded in greeting to Inoichi as they entered the jounin headquarters. "So, what do you think this is all about?" he asked joylessly.

"I don't know, but I don't appreciate being woken up by some ROOT bastard banging on my door," the blond replied gruffly. Yamanaka Inoichi wasn't much of a morning person.

"Yes, they were rather … abrupt, weren't they?" the Nara clan leader remarked, frowning when he noticed that the platform he and the other Jounin Council members usually sat was occupied already. Danzou was there, accompanied by an unmasked escort today. He was surprised to see Haruno Sakura, Kakashi's assistant, directly next to him … and on the meeting room table, the distinct outline of a shrouded corpse.

He heard Inoichi suck in a sharp breath and knew the man had just noticed the same thing. The blond's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he looked over those in the center of the room once more. "Kakashi's not here."

Shikaku's gaze flickered back to the corpse. "I have a bad feeling about this, my friend."

* * *

It killed a piece of her heart to stand alongside the men responsible for killing the one she loved, but she didn't have a choice. She knew all they were waiting for was an excuse to cut her down like they had Kakashi, and she'd be damned if she gave it to them.

Even if it meant being a political prisoner.

For what felt like the thousandth time since leaving the Council chamber, Sakura apologized to Kakashi. She was sorry she didn't insist more earnestly that he stay, sorry she hadn't gone with him, sorry she hadn't thought to go to him herself. Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of sixth sense when you were in love, one that let you know your lover was in trouble? If so, hers was defective. She'd been making pancakes while he'd been murdered.

Sakura looked out into a sea of confused faces; they were all mostly strangers to her. She recognized a few familiar ones in the crowd, such as Shizune and Ino's dad, but for the most part she was alone in a room full of people she didn't know or wished she didn't. And she was supposed to address them all on behalf of the man lying dead on the table behind her. She was supposed to tell them about how wonderful he was and how they shouldn't feel anger toward those who'd brutally slaughtered him.

Her stomach lurched sickeningly.

She watched as Danzou raised a hand and the gathered jounin began to fall silent. "Thank you all for arriving on such short notice," he began. "I wish it could have been under better circumstances than this."

"What's going on?" someone demanded irritably from the back.

"What's going on is that we are here today to grieve for one of our own – someone dear to all our hearts."

It took quite a bit for her to bite her tongue at that.

A startled murmur swept over the crowd as several people pointed toward the table and whispered speculatively with their neighbors. Sakura caught sight of Maito Gai and knew by how tightly pinched his brow was that he had guessed who was underneath the sheet.

"Hatake Kakashi is dead," Danzou said, his voice rising up over the growing clamor. His words snuffed out all activity in the room. Shock was written across several faces, but he continued on regardless. "He died this morning, mere hours before you were summoned here."

"How?" Nara Shikaku demanded roughly, his dark eyes gleaming with discontent.

Rather than answer him, Danzou turned toward Sai. Sakura's breath caught as the boy she thought she'd known stepped forward and said, "Hatake Kakashi died at the hands of my fellow ROOT members and me."

Chaos erupted and several people rushed toward the platform with weapons in hand. They were met by ROOT forces and shoved roughly back toward the seats. Danzou, expecting some sort of uprising, had very wisely brought in reinforcements.

"Quiet!" Danzou shouted, and there was such authority in his tone that even Sakura found her lips pursing in obedience. Once everyone was settled again, he leveled a stern look over their heads and said, "Let Sai explain to you why this happened."

Sai took a step forward, his dark eyes darting from one furious face to another uneasily. He was facing a room full of angry, elite jounin who were eager to spill blood. She didn't pity him one bit.

"A-As many of you know, I have been with Team Kakashi for nearly nine months," he began, speaking much too softly to be heard by all. A few shouts of 'speak up' and 'we can't hear you' made him flinch before continuing in a much louder tone, "I did not know Kakashi well, but I considered him a friend. He welcomed me to his team gladly, proved on numerous occasions that he was an incredible ninja, demonstrated over and over again that he loved Konoha with all his heart."

"Then why did you kill him?" Gai growled. The tears running down his cheeks didn't do anything to weaken the rage burning in his eyes.

"For Konoha," Sai answered simply. "Out of duty to my village, I and my comrades killed him. There is no doubt that Hatake Kakashi did everything in his power to protect the people of Konoha. He was truly an exemplary person … but in his efforts to help us, he would have put us in terrible danger."

Disbelieving murmurs and several head shakes met him in response. Sakura waited silently by for her chance to speak.

"He wanted to bring in other villages to help us rebuild," Sai persisted, relaying the facts as he had no doubt been told them. "While it is a noble ideal, it is simply impractical. For all the talks of alliances and peace, the fact remains that we are all ninja. We are _rivals._ We compete for missions and for power, for supremacy over the other Hidden Villages. To allow those people into our land, to play heavily in the remaking of our homes, is a dangerous plan. It is also the plan that Hatake Kakashi had for us."

To her horror, doubt began to cross many of the faces. Despite his lack of social tact, Sai was somehow turning them against Kakashi. For the first time since initially discovering her lover had been murdered, fury started curling through her. This time, it was different. Whereas before it had been a burning fire in her veins, demanding she exact violent compensation on them, this time it was a cold so deep she could feel it in her bones.

She didn't want compensation; she wanted retribution. She wanted every one who wielded a kunai against Kakashi to die – including Sai.

"This is not to say," the dark eyed man continued, "that Kakashi acted in knowing malice against Konoha. He did not have any ulterior motives, nor was he plotting against his village with our rivals. He truly believed in the intangibility of peace between the villages. He believed in it so much in fact that he would not hear the reasoning of others and contacted Suna without leave of the Council. It was this brash act of his that led to our decision, so as to save Konoha from further peril of his good intentions. I took no joy in the matter and mourn his loss. But we – all of use here – are first and foremost shinobi. We live and die to protect our village, no matter where the threat may lie."

Silence followed after his statement. Sakura held her breath, hoping against hope that the doubt she'd noticed was fleeting. At the first tenuous applause, her heart sank. And the louder it became, the more it hurt. These people … they all _knew_ him, and yet here they were commending the people who had brutally murdered him! She wanted to close her eyes, to forget their faces … but as she looked out, she saw that not everyone was cheering Sai on. In fact, at most she would say only half the room was doing so. Some, like Gai, weren't bothering to hide their outrage over what had been done. It helped to ease the aching of her heart just a bit.

She looked up as Danzou came to her, leaning down to whisper, "Now that the village is mine, you're free to speak."

Sakura stiffened at his words and the last bit of heartache faded completely as the icy rage returned full force. His village… Not while she was still alive and breathing it wasn't. She nodded stiffly and even tolerated him placing his palm to her back to guide her forward. "Quiet, please!" he called out. "There is one other who wishes to speak to you."

It took a few minutes, but eventually the jounin subsided enough to let her speak. "I know many of you may not know me, but I'm Haruno Sakura. I … I was one of Kakashi's students as a genin, a teammate later on. His assistant when all of you nominated him as co-Hokage." She paused for a moment, both to gauge Danzou's response to her reminder as well as to compose herself for the next part. "And most recently, I was his lover."

Once again, the audience erupted into a hum of shocked voices.

"I loved him," she said, speaking quickly before they had a chance to get louder. "I never expected to, at least not in the sense that I do now … and think always will. I know it's cliché to say this, but he took my heart with him. H-He was the most important person in my life. It's silly, I know, but I don't think I'll ever be able to love anyone like I did him again."

"It's not silly," a woman near the front offered softly. "I understand completely. My … my husband died a year ago. I felt the same way."

Sakura smiled at her, tears rolling unchecked down her cheeks. "Thank you," she whispered, and she meant it wholeheartedly.

Danzou cleared his throat then and interjected, "But even though Sakura is grieving, she hold us with no ill will … isn't that right, Sakura?"

"Oh, yes. Of course not," she replied quickly, slipping easily back into the role she was playing. "Why, if it weren't for your kindness, Danzou-sama, I probably wouldn't have been allowed to express my grief – or that Kakashi loved another more than me."

As she'd hoped, the crowd reacted to her insinuation, several of them shouting to know who the other woman was. Sakura waited as their neighbors shushed them before asking, "You want to know who his greater love was?"

The assembly murmured its assent. She met Gai's eyes briefly and saw him smile and nod his approval of what she was doing. Kurenai was next to him with her fingers crossed for good luck on her belly. As she looked around, she saw more faces she recognized, more who knew what she was about to do and were supporting her silently.

Very aware of the thin line she was balancing, Sakura replied, "Konoha. More specifically, all of you."

It wasn't the answer the majority of the crowd had been expecting.

"As Sai already pointed out so beautifully – and I want to take a moment to thank him for his words—," Sai looked about ready to puke all over the floor, in her opinion. "Kakashi loved his village dearly. It and everyone who called it home were always foremost in his thoughts and actions. He already died once for Konoha; what greater proof do you need than that?"

"Then why was he trying to bring in rival nin to rebuild our village?" a man asked from her left.

"For many reasons," she replied, ignoring Danzou's warning hiss as she moved to face the general area of the speaker. "First, he discovered that the Daimyo's representative is a highly corrupt individual – something Kakashi would not tolerate in _his _Konoha. Admittedly, some of the things he said were less than polite … but I'm certain Danzou-sama did his best to smooth over any lapses there."

She almost smirked as everyone directed their attention to the named man. "His second reason was that he had wanted to help Konoha progress beyond the status quo. He wanted this to truly be _our village_, not the land we lived on at the mercy of the Daimyo. He, like so many of you here, have fought and bled for our homes. Kakashi felt it was time we claimed that debt and in order to do so we needed distance from the Daimyo. Asking Suna for help was him expressing our desire to be free."

"Sakura … don't do this," Sai murmured softly, worry flickering briefly through his eyes.

She met his gaze defiantly and let her voice ring louder as she forged ahead. "His third reason was just as Sai said: peace. Above all things, Kakashi believed that it was possible for the Hidden Villages to coexist. Remember all the joys we experienced until recently? How nice it was not to lie awake at night with a kunai in one hand, wondering if tonight the enemy will attack? How your children have grown up smiling and happy rather than missing one or both parents?

"That is what Kakashi wanted for all of us. And the Kazekage wanted the same for his people as well. Together, they wanted to make that possible for our villages. That is why Suna offered almost two months ago to aid us by bringing food, clean water, material for rebuilding. But, unfortunately, this would have meant letting foreign ninja into our land – a major threat to our security."

She paused a moment, letting her words sink in. All those people who had doubted Kakashi's intent … they were now gazing at his cloth covered body sadly. Sakura's throat was tight and she begged silently for Kakashi to forgive what she was about to do next.

Sakura walked over to the table and hoped no one could see the way her hands were trembling as she reached out and cupped his cheek through the bloodstained fabric. "I'm sorry," she whispered, the words barely more than a breath of sound so low that no one but she could hear it. The words were for Kakashi alone – and she doubted they would ever be enough.

She looked up, stared out at the gathered jounin, made eye contact with as many people as she could. "Do you want to see the face of the man who loved you all so much?"

It took a moment, but finally someone broke the silence with a soft, "Yes." The word spread around and soon it became a riotous noise as people surged to their feet, trying to better see a face that had long been hidden.

She felt sick doing this, disgusted with herself for exploiting him so vulgarly. But if the people saw him, saw that he was just like them, then maybe something good could come from his death. With one final entreaty to forgive her, Sakura pulled the sheet back and very gingerly peeled his mask down. The material was stiff with dried blood and his skin was cool and clammy against her knuckles, but she didn't stop until it was bunched beneath his chin.

The silence that fell over the jounin as she stepped away and let them look at Kakashi was stifling. It was as if no one dared so much as to breathe loudly. But Sakura wasn't paying attention to any of them. Her entire focus was on the still features of her lover. Even in death with dried blood staining his skin and bluish hue to his lips, he was still the most beautiful man she had ever seen. She lifted her hand to touch his mouth one final time.

Fingers closed over her wrist in a bruising grip. "I think that's enough," Danzou said coldly.

"And I think you need to remove your hand from her right now," Gai called angrily from his place near the back.

Danzou's eye narrowed dangerously, but he did as the taijutsu master ordered. "As was said, Kakashi's loss is a devastating blow to the village—," he began in an attempt to bring the jounin around once more, but he was cut off by his audience.

"He was so young."

"I think he's smiling."

"Look, the bastards slit his throat…"

"… defensive wounds on his hands…"

No matter what he tried, no matter how he raised his voice, the people weren't listening; her gamble had worked. Danzou turned to her and it was the first time she could ever recall seeing him truly flustered. "What have you done?" he rasped, incredulity heavy in his tone.

Sakura let go of her control, let all the anger and pain she felt show on her face as she snarled through clenched teeth, "This isn't your village. It's _his._ And you should start running now."

"Danzou-sama!" Torune dove forward, crying out in pain as the senbon destined for his master's neck pierced deeply into his shoulder. She saw Genma already lining up for another shot. "Danzou-sama, we have to leave!"

Giving her one last look of horror, Danzou let his men pull him away. Two guards fell dead and three more collapsed to the ground with serious wounds as the ROOT operatives beat a hasty retreat. As he hurried after them, Sai paused for a moment to look back at her. Sakura felt nothing but an empty coldness, and it must have shown because he turned then and quickly made his escape.

The adrenaline rush finally caught up with her, causing her knees to buckle. She quickly grabbed hold of the table, keeping her eyes closed tightly so as not to see Kakashi's lifeless face once more. Someone put a hand on her shoulder and she batted it away roughly. "I'm fine," she insisted, having to raise her voice to be heard over all the angry shouts flying about.

"You're not," Kurenai insisted. "And if you argue with me, Gai here will knock you out and carry you."

"I can't leave him."

"Shizune and Genma are already working on that, Sakura. Ibiki, Shikaku and Inoichi are guarding his body in the mean time. He's safe and you're going to be sick."

Sakura's eyes cracked open just in time to see Ibiki hurl an overly zealous jounin clear across the room. Shizune and Genma were quickly placing seals around Kakashi's body in preparation of transporting him to safety. Nodding weakly, she let Kurenai pull her in close as Gai forced a path for them through the riot. She had wanted Danzou's power stripped away, but she hadn't expected the backlash to be so violent. People were practically ripping the room apart in their rage and she almost felt bad for the ROOT members that had been left behind.

They made it out of the assembly hall and no sooner were they in the hallway than Sakura was indeed sick. Kurenai continued to hold her as she emptied her stomach contents across the floor, murmuring reassuring words in her ear as she combed her hair back. She was shivering and couldn't seem to stop it, her teeth rattling hard in her mouth as a fresh wash of dry, heaving sobs came over her. People were coming over now, asking what was going on and Gai gave them the basics before telling them to move along. By lunchtime, the entire village would know that Hatake Kakashi had been murdered.

"Are you done?" Kurenai asked.

Sakura, relieved the other woman had asked if she was feeling better, nodded weakly.

"Good, because you're going to have to speak with the Elders soon."

"I can't," she mumbled, her voice rough and more than a little weary.

"Unfortunately, you'll have to. And they will probably want to see his body as well."

A broken whimper came from her and in response, Kurenai held her tighter.

Three people emerged from the meeting room quickly and Gai immediately put himself between them and the two women. He relaxed when he saw it was just Ibiki, Shikaku and Inoichi, the latter of which had an eye that was already swelling.

"Genma and Shizune got him out of there," Shikaku updated. "They're alerting ABNU as to what's happened and having them come down here to calm things down. How is she?"

"As well as you can expect," Kurenai replied for Sakura. "What's the next move?"

"We get a message to Naruto," the Nara clan leader said. "Inoichi, assemble a team and track down Uzumaki Naruto. Tell him he _has _to return to the village. Don't explain why, but make sure he understands there is no choice in the matter."

"Got it." Inoichi snagged Ibiki's sleeve and together they sprinted from the jounin headquarters.

Shikaku studied Sakura for several seconds before letting out a quiet groan. "Sakura, I know this is going to be hard for you, but we need to discuss what happened before the Elders call you in for an explanation. Can you do that?"

She nodded, unable to speak and unsure if maybe her agreement was a lie.

The older man turned to Kurenai and said, "Take her to my house. My wife is there and will be able to help. I'll get messages to all the Hidden Villages explaining what has happened." Without another word, Shikaku hurried off to try and restore some semblance of order.

Sakura didn't protest when Gai took her from Kurenai, allowing the pregnant woman to stretch her back out with a wince. She managed a wry smile and said, "Wouldn't it be so anticlimactic if my water broke now?"

Gai chuckled as they started toward the door and replied, "One cannot fight fate, though it'd be a good idea to try right now. This isn't a good day to be born."

Kurenai made an agreeing sound as she waddled as quickly as she could behind them. Word had obviously started to spread already, judging by the way people kept looking at her. Gai hurried to get them off the main road before anyone could think about approaching. She didn't remember much of the walk to the Nara estate, just that Kurenai and Gai talked quietly to each other and that somehow her feet kept moving.

Nara Yoshino was outside when they arrived, packing compost around the base of a young tree. She rose at their approach, but the welcoming smile faded quickly when she got a good look at Sakura. "What happened?" she asked, stripping her work gloves off and tucking them into her belt.

"Hatake Kakashi has been murdered," Gai answered quickly. "Your husband instructed us to come here. This is—"

"Haruno Sakura," she interrupted softly. "You were a classmate of my son's in the Academy." Yoshino studied her a moment longer before sighing and motioning for them to follow her inside. "The living room is to your left. Make yourselves comfortable, I'll be back in a bit."

Kurenai sank gratefully onto the narrow couch, groaning as she rubbed a hand over belly. "I can't wait until this brat is born," she muttered, shifting awkwardly on the cushions to find a better position.

At Gai's insistence, Sakura sat next to the pregnant woman. Now that everything was done, she was left feeling hollow. The pain and anger had kept her going and without it she was just … tired. It was difficult to think that just this morning he'd been alive, that she'd heard his voice and felt the warmth of his body pressed to hers. And the more she thought about it, the more it drove home the fact that she wouldn't see him tomorrow. He was gone. Kakashi was gone and she….

A tear splattered on her folded hands, cooling quickly in the open air. It was joined by another and another, and soon they were falling uncontrollably. She'd thought she'd shed them all in the Council chamber, when she'd walked in to find him dead. Her eyes squeezed shut as the image surfaced, as if by closing her eyes she could stop her brain from remembering. It was no use. All she saw was the blood and the deep, ragged gashes where people had twisted the kunai inside him. She saw his slack features, the sliver of his dull eyes from beneath his lashes.

The tears kept coming, choking her with each breath. She wondered briefly if it was possible to die from too much crying as she curled her knees up to her chest, tucking herself in the far corner. No one touched her or offer words the expected words of comfort – lies that everything would be alright that it would get easier with time. They understood that nothing could possibly make her feel better right now and were giving her the one thing she needed most: solitude.

She didn't know how long she'd been crying. For all she cared, it might as well have been forever. Finally, her eyes were too swollen and sore to tolerate any more tears. Sakura lifted her head and stared bleakly at the wall in front of her. Her entire body ached, but she didn't feel like moving.

A steaming mug appeared before her and one inhale was enough to tell her it was full of chicken broth and a sleeping agent.

"Drink it," Yoshino insisted, using the voice that all mothers seemed to have; that gentle, commanding voice which wouldn't allow for any arguing. With the way the older woman was looking at her, she knew that at some point Gai must have filled her in with the details.

Sakura took the offered cup and sipped it, even though she didn't particularly want to. Letting out a relieved breath, Yoshino sat in the chair next to the couch, her flak vest crinkling roughly across her torso. She'd changed as well, now wearing a standard issue jounin uniform and with her hair pulled back tightly. "Has anyone contacted your parents yet?" she asked.

Shaking her head, Sakura mumbled, "No. They're not here."

"Where are they? I'll make sure a message gets to them immediately."

The idea of having to face her mother with all this was horrible. It would involve the usual lecture about how being a kunoichi meant toughening up and that this was why having affairs with teammates was discouraged. Her mom was an amazing ninja, but that didn't mean she was an amazing mom all the time.

Yoshino seemed to pick up on her reluctance. She reached out and gently brushed Sakura's hair back behind one ear. "It can wait until tomorrow. Just finish your soup for now, okay?"

"It's very good," Sakura lied as she took another cautious sip. It was actually very bitter from whatever Shikamaru's mom had put in it, but that had been an intentional thing. Generally speaking, it was very rude to try and drug someone without them being aware. The older woman was being polite in not disguising it.

"You think so?" she chuckled, playing along with the lie. "Maybe I should make it for my boy sometime. He's developed the nasty habit of sneaking out at night to meet with Inoichi's daughter. A little homemade soup might encourage him to stay home."

Kurenai laughed under her breath and said, "Make sure I get a copy of that before leaving.

"Oh, it's very easy. All you do is take two parts chicken broth, put it in a pot with some carrots, onion, celery…"

Sakura tried to stay focused on the recipe to see if she could at least identify what she'd been fed, but the drug was already starting to take affect. Her eyes were getting heavier by the minute, the voices of the two women dimmer, and before she knew it she was slumping down on the couch. The last thought to cross her mind before sleep overcame her was that Nara Yoshino certainly hadn't skimped on the dosage.

When she woke much later, she a moment of panic as her eyes opened on a dark, unfamiliar room. All she saw were shadows moving against the wall and black, hulking shapes. It took a couple heart-pounding seconds before she started identifying the imagined creatures as being pieces of furniture. She sat up slowly, her head spinning from eating the drugged soup, and pulled the knitted afghan someone had been kind enough to provide more securely around her body. The remnants of a dream still flitted around the outskirts of her consciousness, too vague to grasp again but clear enough that she knew it was better than her reality.

Her eyes were just beginning to close again when she heard what had woken her: voices. Two of them, one male and one female. They were whispering somewhere just outside the living room, the male speaking in imploring tones while the woman's was an angry hiss. Curious and at a little frightened at the same time, Sakura stood up and padded quietly across the floor. She paused with her back pressed to the wall by the door and peered around cautiously to see who it was.

"Yoshino, I can't disobey the Elders," Shikaku pleaded quietly. His back was to her, which prevented her from seeing his face … but not his wife's. The anger on her features seemed so out of place compared to the gentle compassion from mere hours ago.

"Well, this time you're going to have to," she insisted stubbornly. "That girl is _not_ going to be seen and interrogated on their grounds. If they want to talk to her, they will come here."

"And what do you plan to do, hm? Turn them out if you don't approve of their questions?"

"Absolutely. This is _our_ house, Shikaku, and she is _our_ guest. And when you tell the Elders that Haruno Sakura will not be coming to the Council Chamber tomorrow or the day after or any other day that they decree, make certain you remind them that manners _will_ be observed in my house."

Shikaku made a frustrated sound and rubbed his temples as if he had a headache. "Woman…"

Yoshino arched a brow and folded her arms across her chest. "Man?" she returned caustically.

He sighed heavily, tossing his arms up in a show of defeat. "I don't know why I bother trying to argue you with."

Her smile was triumphant as she gave his chest a pat. "You do, and I love you for it. And occasionally I let you win. But in this … I'm not budging. If they want to question her, they'll do so in a neutral location – where I can monitor the proceedings."

Shikaku snorted in amusement and pulled his wife in for an embrace. "I'll inform them first thing tomorrow," he assured softly.

Sakura drew away as the couple started kissing again and crept back to her makeshift bed with a heart that felt like it was breaking all over again. She knew their display of affection hadn't been intentional, and that if Yoshino had known she was watching that it wouldn't have happened, but it didn't make it feel any less like a personal injury. It made her think about Kakashi and how she would never have the opportunity to do any of that: to argue with him, to kiss him when she wanted, to fall asleep in his arms. If she weren't still feeling heavy and exhausted from the drug, she probably would have started crying again.

She curled up tightly on the couch and pulled the blanket up over her head, as if by making herself as small as possible she could just disappear. It was a nice thought, one that helped lull her back to sleep.

* * *

The next three days passed in a blur. The Nara house was besieged with visitors, ranging from Konoha Council members questioning her repeatedly about what had happened to strangers coming to express their condolences and share small anecdotes they had of Kakashi. The former were exhausting and, at times, rude about suggesting she might have had a hand in his murder. When that happened, Nara Yoshino would magically appear with a tray of tea … and it was purely coincidental that the graceful woman would suddenly become clumsy. The Council members very quickly learned that they were to be polite if they wished to avoid potentially second degree burns.

The sympathizers were a different matter. They weren't there to harm her or trick her into admitting guilt beyond that she wished she would have gone with Kakashi that day. As such, Yoshino and her Tea of Hasty Departure rarely made an appearance. There were times where Sakura wished that wasn't the case … one of those being right now.

She knew Maito Gai meant well, but hearing him talk about Kakashi with a smile on his face wasn't really helping. Sakura understood why he appeared to be happy; he was celebrating the life, not mourning the death. Unfortunately, he hadn't been the one to see Kakashi's body fresh after it had been mutilated by forty elite ninja. The only stories she didn't mind during his three hour visit were the ones about Kakashi before she knew him.

Gai told her about his father, Hatake Sakumo, and the sacrifice he'd made. He told her about how their 'rivalry' had started (apparently, it was over a girl named Rin) and about some of their more interesting missions – like the one where he and Kakashi had pretended to be a couple so as to avoid the interest of an overzealous drug lord's wife. It had backfired; as it turned out, the wife had a thing for man-on-man action. Yoshino had thankfully poked her head in to ask if they needed and refreshments, putting an end on that story before Gai could go into greater detail.

The thing was, even though she would have preferred curling up in a corner and letting the world pass her by … listening to Gai speak of Kakashi so fondly lifted some of the heaviness from her heart. Hearing him talk about all the things they'd done together, for better or worse, reminded her why she loved him. Kakashi may have put up a cool front, but underneath he was one of the warmest men she'd ever met. He cared about those he held dear, and she considered herself lucky to be in that select group.

It also had the adverse affect of making her miss him terribly. She missed confiscating his porn so that he would do some actual work, missed his lame excuses for why he was late almost every morning. She missed the way he looked at her when he thought she didn't notice, how he always waited for her to finish up just to say wish her goodnight. It made Gai's remembrances a bittersweet thing.

Ino visited her everyday. They didn't talk about much of anything, but it was nice having her best friend with her. Sometimes, the blonde would bring a few magazines over, though how she'd managed to get her hands on the glossy articles when mail was supposed to be restricted to necessary communications, she didn't know – and Ino wasn't sharing. Going through the pages, picking out clothing for each other and laughing at some of the more outlandish styles was a dose of normality she desperately needed right now.

It was late on her third night at the Nara residence when Naruto finally came home. Sakura woke when someone crawled into bed with her. She knew the minute he wrapped an arm around her and hauled her into a tight hug that it was him. No one gave bear hugs like Uzumaki Naruto. She closed her eyes and settled back against his wiry frame. It was similar to how Kakashi had held her their only night together, but different in that there was no confusing Naruto's body for his.

"So, I heard you really owned Danzou's ass," he murmured, his breath warming the back of her neck.

Sakura shrugged and settled her arm over his. "Not really. He got away."

"For now, yeah. But he's gotta live with the fact that a sixteen year old girl got the best of him. All the other S-class criminals are gonna laugh at him."

She snorted, unable to keep the mirth in check. It really wasn't all that funny, given the circumstances … but it was hard being depressed around him. "I _am_ a chuunin, you know," she reminded him. "Technically, I outrank you. And I was trained by Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, not to mention I took out a member of Akatsuki."

"Sure, sure, rub in how awesome you are," he grumbled jokingly. He was silent for a moment before saying more gently, "I'm sorry. I should have been here."

Sakura squeezed his arm and when she spoke next her voice cracked with unshed tears. "Can you … Can you just be quiet? Please?"

"Yeah, no problem." Naruto snuggled closer to her back, spooning his body around hers. It was the first time she'd ever let him hold her like this, and it should have felt awkward and strange. It didn't. If anything, it was the most comfortable she'd felt in three whole days.

She remained awake the rest of the night, listening to his deep, even breaths, and for the first time since everything happened she felt like everything might be okay. They would find Danzou and Sai, and together they would make them pay for what they had done. She just hoped that Naruto wouldn't try and deny her the chance to avenge Kakashi.

* * *

"Intelligence reports from Ame state that Danzou and Sai crossed the border yesterday," Shikaku stated, addressing the group of people that were crowded in his living room. His wife was still stubbornly insisting that any meetings with Sakura were to be conducted in his house rather than a proper meeting room, which was highly inconvenient … but what could he do about it?

"If they were close enough to see him cross the border, why the hell didn't they attack?" Yamato demanded sternly. He and Naruto had just gotten back to Konoha late last night, and the lack of sleep was evident in the bags under his eyes as well as his temperament.

"Ame is taking a neutral stance on the matter," he explained, noting that more than one person seemed angry at the news. "They've agreed to provide information about his movement through their territory, but they won't risk their forces by engaging him in combat. It seems the reputation of _almost_ killing Uchiha Sasuke is enough to hold them back."

Genma snorted derisively and shook his head. "Fucking Ame pussies," he muttered uncharitably. He grimaced when Yoshino cleared her throat and shot him a disapproving glare.

"Anyway," Shikaku continued, moving along in hopes of preventing the senbon user from catching anymore of his wife's wrath, "The Elders have already petitioned the Ame Council asking for permission to enter their land with armed forces. When Danzou left, he took almost two hundred and twenty-seven fully trained ROOT ninja and another one hundred and twelve rookies."

Naruto let out a surprised squawk from where he was sitting next to Sakura and exclaimed, "They seriously had that many people in their group? Damn…."

Smirking at the obvious remark, the Nara clan leader said, "Indeed, it is. I don't think anyone knew just how extensive Danzou's forces were." When he'd reported their findings to the Council, he could still remember the look how shock on their faces to learn that the Daimyo's Hokage essentially had himself a small army. It was that information which had sealed their complete support in tracking ROOT down and destroying them completely.

"How soon will we hear back from Ame?" Yamato pressed as he studied the map that was spread across Shikaku's coffee table.

"I don't know. Tomorrow. A week from now. It's entirely up to their Council now. In the meantime, I think it would be wise to plot a contingency plan in case they refuse."

"Agreed," the former ANBU captain said as he leaned forward to tap a section of the map. "It's a likely bet that Danzou is leading them north toward the mountains. If can make it there, it's possible to survive indefinitely in the wilderness. There are hundreds of caves peppering the mountain side and the forests are rife with game. We can't let them get there."

"What about intercepting them here?" Inoichi suggested, indicating a small town in Iwa that was between Ame and the mountain range. "Firubi is an ideal battleground: two sides bordered by water and lots of flatland for maneuvering. The tall grasses are great for camouflage, too."

Shikaku nodded thoughtfully as he too surveyed the map. Yamato was right in that they needed to catch Danzou before he could reach the mountains, but he was hesitant about staging a battle so close to a small town. He stretched his arm across the table and tapped a spot just north of Firubi. "We'll engage them here. It's a little closer to the mountains, but the foothills and outcropping boulders will provide cover should we need it. Iwa is being surprisingly amiable about this whole thing, so I'm certain we can convince them to allow for temporary military access."

"Then let's get a message to them immediate and start forming the teams," Yamato replied. "The Elders won't allow for all of the ANBU forces to leave in pursuit of ROOT, so it would be best to include a mix of regular teams as well."

"How many ANBU squads do you think we can get?" Sakura asked. It was the first time all morning that she'd spoken.

Yamato exchanged a glance with Shikaku and shrugged. "Twenty at most, I would think. Why?"

Sakura slid forward from her corner of the couch to trace a line with her finger between Firubi and Ame's border. "If we let Danzou and Sai pass this point here, the ANBU teams can engage them to the north and east, which allows our regular teams to move in from the south and close them in."

"Oh! I see what you mean!" Naruto said excitedly, grinning brightly at his teammate. "They'll be surrounded on all sides, so numbers won't really matter. That's brilliant, Sakura-chan!"

"I have to admit, that's probably our best chance for success," Yamato agreed thoughtfully. "Hedge them in and force a surrender."

Sakura's head snapped up in surprise. "Surrender?" she repeated incredulously.

Yamato shifted uneasily and glanced around pleadingly at his peers for assistance. Shikaku didn't dare step in; the girl was trained by Tsunade and he'd seen what the former Hokage had been capable of with just one finger. He was not about to get on this girl's bad side.

Realizing he was on his own, the ANBU captain's shoulder slumped as he groaned under his breath. "The Council has ordered that Danzou and Sai are to be brought back alive if at all possible," he explained. "They want them tried by village standards for what they've done."

"Oh, hell no!" she shouted angrily. "Did they read Shizune's autopsy report? Those bastards stabbed Kakashi over fifty times! _Fifty times!_ Seventeen of those wounds were delivered postmortem – meaning, they continued stabbing him even after he was dead. And they want to bring them back alive so they can get locked up for life? No."

"Sakura—"

"No! Kakashi went into that meeting completely unarmed. He had no idea that he was going to be ambushed by his own village. Then, they mutilated him even after he was dead. If the Elders think it's justice to drag them back and let them live … fuck them!"

"Sakura!" Naruto yelped, shocked by her language.

"I mean it!" she continued heatedly. "Fuck them and their stupid justice and their policies."

"Sakura," Shikaku cut in sharply. He almost regretted it when her furious green eyes landed on him. "The orders were specifically this: Danzou and Sai were to be captured alive … _if possible._ A battlefield is a very confusing, chaotic place. Who's to say the opportunity will present itself?"

He put just enough insinuation in his words for her to catch on that there wasn't a person in the room who was going to allow for such an opportunity. All of them, except for perhaps Naruto, were going into this with one goal in mind: vengeance. If any of ROOT survived, it would be because of Naruto's peacekeeping beliefs – not because they were following orders.

As he'd hoped, Sakura caught his meeting and quieted down. Naruto glanced from her to Shikaku and back again, rightly guessing that a hidden exchange had occurred but clueless as to what the message had been. It was for the best; the kyuubi vessel would certainly protest them going on a revenge mission."

Satisfied that most everyone was on the same page, Shikaku began folding the map up. "Yamato, you will be responsible for petitioning and organizing the ANBU reinforcements. Inoichi, Genma, Gai, you three gather as many teams as possible. Only experienced chuunin and up. These are elite ninja we're going up against and I don't want novices getting hurt. Danzou has the advantage of speed, so we'll need to organize at least seven transport sites. Yoshino, I want you and Shizune to head this up. Let's plan to leave in three days. That should give us enough time to position ourselves for Danzou's forces."

As soon as he was finished, everyone dispersed and immediately began making preparations for the upcoming battle. Shikaku watched as Sakura left the room as well with Naruto following after her and sighed. When the battle started, he was going to have to keep an eye on her. He could very easily see her doing something foolish in the name of revenge and knew Kakashi would never forgive him if he let that happen.

* * *

The battle at Firubi was over quicker than anyone had anticipated. Apparently, Ame had done more than they'd said they would and had beleaguered the ROOT army every step of the way through their country. By the time Danzou reached the proposed battleground, his men were tired, injured, and in poor condition to fight. They still managed to cause some damage to the Konoha forces; cornered men were dangerous enough, but it was more so when those cornered men were specially trained ninja.

From start to finish, the battle only lasted an hour. Only a handful of ROOT operatives were captured alive, the majority of them having either died in the fight or committing suicide so as to avoid capture. Danzou and Sai were among the latter. The former ROOT leader had been discovered with a bloody kunai in his hand and his intestines steaming in the cool air; he'd disemboweled himself rather than be taken alive.

Sai, on the other hand, had allowed himself to be taken prisoner. At his request, he'd been taken to Sakura, whereupon he offered a sad smile and an apology for the pain he'd caused to both her and Konoha – right before his body collapsed in convulsive fits on the ground. A couple people rushed forward to try and save him, but it was too late. The cyanide pill he'd swallowed at the start of the battle had done its job. Regardless of the outcome, Sai had never intended to live through it.

No one commented on the fact that Sakura, a trained medic who was highly adept at removing toxins from the bloodstream, hadn't been one of the people to try and save him.

Those that participated in the Battle of Firubi left with mixed emotions. Some felt vindicated that they had administered justice for a man they loved and respected. Others relieved that it had ended so quickly. But there wasn't a single person who could say they left the battlefield feeling proud of what they had done. That day, they killed people they had known, neighbors and friends whose only fault was that they followed a different path. There was nothing to be proud of in that.

They returned home quietly, without the fanfare that customarily accompanied returning victorious in battle. Everyone simply wanted to put it behind them and focus on the one thing more important than their duty as ninja: each other.


	5. Chapter 5

**_The barren, touched in this holy chase,_**

**_Shake off their sterile curse_**

* * *

Haruno Sakura looked up and smiled as a very familiar figure suddenly thudded to the ground next to her. "Do you think one day you could learn to make a normal entrance?" she teased as Naruto took a seat on the grass, stretching his legs out in front of him.

He feigned a thoughtful look before grinning and shaking his head. "Nah, not really my thing, y'know? I kinda like making an impression."

She laughed at that, pushing her hair back with one hand. It was down to her shoulders now, which was about as long as she was going to let it get. "Yeah, what was I thinking? Why should the Hokage even bother trying to act dignified?" she teased.

"Hey, if they wanted dignified, they coulda voted for some old person with lots of wrinkles and liver spots. Or, hey! Why not see if Tsunade wants the job back? She's pretty old— OW!" He scowled at her grumpily as he rubbed the back of his head.

Sakura sniffed haughtily and said, "It serves you right for talking about Tsunade like that. She _just_ woke up from her coma last month. It'll take some time until she's able to manage her beauty genjutsu again."

"Hopefully it won't take _too_ long," he muttered. The only thing that saved him from getting another lump was the sly look he slanted at her from the corner of his eye.

Rolling her eyes at his antics, she carefully shifted about until her back was leaning against his shoulder. As always, Naruto didn't mind when she used him as a wall – in more than one sense. He'd been her support for the last four months, helping her get situated in her new apartment, going grocery shopping with her, coming over to keep her company. She was grateful for everything he did for her, even while knowing there would be nothing but friendship between them. Sakura wished she could love him like he wanted her to … but she couldn't. All the love she had left to give belonged to one person now.

Naruto adjusted his position to better accommodate her before staring at the two memorial markers in the fresh green grass. "Can I ask you somethin', Sakura?"

"Sure," she replied, closing her eyes to savor the sunlight overhead.

"Why did you want Sai buried next to Kakashi?"

Sakura took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her smile fading a little as she considered his question. "I guess," she replied slowly, tapping her fingers thoughtfully against her stomach, "because he wasn't evil. He truly believed he was doing the right thing by … you know."

His eyes lowered sadly as he plucked the grass near his thigh. "Yeah, I know."

"I'm not saying he was right," she continued quickly before the tears could surface. It still hurt to think about everything that had happened. "And I know Danzou manipulated him into acting the way he had … but I can't hate him for being true to his beliefs. I also think that Kakashi would have wanted it like this. Sai was, no matter what he did, still a member of our team. Kakashi wouldn't have wanted us to leave a teammate behind, would he?"

Naruto shook his head, a sad smile playing across his lips. "No, he would've kicked our asses for that," he agreed, causing her to laugh softly.

Her amusement was cut short when a sharp pain shot through her stomach. She winced, glaring at her belly, and muttered, "You little brat…."

"What, is he kickin' you again?" he asked, peering over her shoulder to better see her rounded stomach.

"Yeah," she grumbled irritably. "He's been doing it more and more lately. I think he hates me."

"Oi, baby!" Naruto called sternly. "Stop kickin' your mother!"

Sakura laughed despite the fact that her ear was ringing. "If that actually works, you're going on babysitting duty," she giggled.

Naruto made a disgusted face and said, "Me, changin' diapers and all that? Hell, no! I'll watch him when he's old enough to hold a kunai."

"Did you ever think that maybe I don't _want_ him to be a ninja?"

"Gah! I can't believe you'd say that in front of his dad!"

It was nice to be laughing again. When she'd first found out she was pregnant, she hadn't been at all thrilled. She had been taking her birth control regularly, as instructed. The likelihood of getting pregnant while still on birth control was something like 0.01 percent. Apparently, her one time having sex fell in that narrow range. The only thing that kept her sane was the fact that its father was someone she'd loved dearly.

It was difficult being seventeen and pregnant without adding in the lack of father to the equation. Her parents had, of course, been less than thrilled that their daughter had gone and got herself knocked up with an older man's baby, but after the initial shouting was done they had been accepting. It helped appease her mother quite a bit that the child's father was from a very prestigious family line. She'd gone out the next day to buy wooden practice shuriken for her future grandbaby.

Things hadn't been all easy for her. The Council and Elders had her on constant watch, still not fully convinced that she hadn't been part of the plot despite what countless people told them. She wasn't able to take missions due to her condition, so getting money around to support herself and a baby was tough. Her activities at the hospital were also limited, what with the baby consuming a good portion of her chakra until it developed its own. It was boring being at a desk day in and day out … but it paid her rent and left her with enough extra that she could stockpile on baby supplies.

Of course, she had people who wanted to help her: Gai, Kurenai, Naruto and Yamato in particular. But she didn't want to depend on them all the time. This was something she needed to do herself, or else she wasn't fit to be a mother.

Sakura's lips twitched thoughtfully as she stared down at her stomach, feeling the baby rolling around inside. "Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you… Do you think you could be there with me?"

He didn't need to ask what she meant. He knew, and judging by the goofy grin on his face he was happy she'd asked. "Yeah, okay. I can do that. But only if I get to name him."

"Absolutely not! I'm not gonna have a son named 'Hatake Ramen' or something like that!" she yelped, sitting up enough to give his shoulder a smack. She regretted it instantly as her baby gave a particularly hard kick to her kidney.

Naruto burst out laughing and leaned around her to pat her tummy. "Good boy, Ramen. Your momma deserved that one for beatin' on me all the time."

"Will you quit treating my kid like he's a puppy?" she snapped, though she was having a hard time keeping the laughter in check. "And I swear on his father's grave, if you so much as _think_ about naming him anything food related, I will see you buried on the other side!"

"Okay, okay! Geez… pregnant women really _are _batshit crazy." He flinched as she drew her hand back threateningly. Naruto waited until she was settled once again before saying, "Toushiro."

"Hm?"

"What d'you think about callin' him Hatake Toushiro? You could call him Toushi-kun for short."

Sakura's eyes narrowed speculatively as she repeated the name to herself before nodding. "Yeah, that's not bad. Actually, I kind of like that."

"Really? Awesome! Wow, I can't believe you're actually gonna let me name your kid."

She shrugged and said, "Well, you're his godfather, so why not? And Toushiro is a good name, I think."

"… Unless he has pink hair."

Sakura twisted around to scowl at him. "What's wrong with him having pink hair?" she demanded.

"Nothing! Pink hair on a boy is great!" Naruto replied swiftly.

"Good," she grunted before pushing herself up onto one knee. He was on his feet instantly and part of her was very envious of how easy it was for him, even as she took his hand and let him pull her upright. Sakura nodded her thanks and, after sparing one last look at the memorial stones, began walking back toward the village.

"So, d'you have any plans tonight?" Naruto asked as he fell into step beside her.

"No, not really," she answered. "I was just going to cook some dinner and maybe watch television. You?"

"Hm? Oh, nothin' much. Hey, can I ask you one more thing?"

Sakura pulled her sweater more securely around herself as the wind kicked up a little briskly.

"Do you hate Danzou for what he did?"

She was silent for several seconds after his question as she tried to figure that out for herself. The anger still made itself known sometimes, as was the pain, but it was brought on now more by the fact that her son would grow up without having known his father. But did she _hate_ him?

Letting out a sigh, Sakura shook her head and replied, "No, I don't." She rubbed her stomach affectionately, her smile widening as her son gave a gentle tap in response. "In this, I bury all unkindness."

* * *

-whew- THAT was a marathon writing session if ever there was one! I didn't get a real chance to sit down and write this until almost two weeks again. Sweet mercy ... I need a nap!

Thank you for reading, everyone, whether you review or not! And to my fellow competitors: well done! It's been a real privilege writing with you fine people.


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